Japan as a normal state: relying on the collective defence approach.

Abstract

Throughout the Cold War period, Japan emerged as a major player in the economic sphere, but handicapped in the political/security sphere. This limited role in the political/security sphere has come under severe criticism in the post-Cold War era. Japan realises that to become a normal state, it would have to develop its security profile to commensurate with its position of being the largest economy in Asia. To attain this status, Japan essentially can take three approaches as discussed in the existing literature - a Japan that participates in collective security centred on the United Nations, a Japan that exercises collective defence relying on strengthened US-Japan alliance or an independent strategy. This thesis shows that Japan is already on the path to become a normal state. To achieve the normalisation goal, Japan seems to have adopted the collective defence approach, as suggested by the recent developments in Japanese security policy and defence capabilities.