Japan steps up its game

Japan's security posture is unique: it is at once a pacifist nation, controls one of the world's largest militaries, is heavily reliant on its alliance with the United States and remains in nearly continuous political conflict with its nearest neighbours over historical issues. The authors surveyed in this book review essay suggest that Japan's security policy-making has undergone a significant transformation that will reverberate for decades. Andrew L. Oros suggests that Japan is experiencing a security renaissance, and is a much more active player now than during the Cold War. Sheila A. Smith believes that rising nationalism among Tokyo's conservative elite has made Sino-Japanese relations more contentious than ever. Brad Glosserman and Scott A. Snyder state that diverging national identities have driven the increase in tensions between Japan and South Korea. Robert D. Eldridge and Paul Midford assert that the key to success of Japan's Ground Self-Defence Force has been its ability to reinforce peaceful postwar norms

Alliance · Elite · International relations · International security · Nationalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Japanese History and Culture · Korean Peninsula Historical and Political Studies · Law