Seeking an honored place: The Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the use of armed force abroad.

摘要

Why has Japan maintained a military policy of not sending its soldiers overseas to combat operations? Despite requests from the United States and the United Nations, Japan will not allow the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to join collective defense or UN military actions that involve the use of force. Explanations for Japan's military policy focus on either external pressure or domestic constraints, but do not offer a satisfactory explanation. This dissertation, by contrast, adopts a multilevel approach that incorporates the international political structure, the US-Japan alliance, and particularly the normative framework--norms and constraints--within which Japanese military policy is made. Here, norms are deeply held beliefs that provide basic guidance for policymakers, while constraints are specific rules by which norms become policy.; Based on research encompassing the entire postwar period, I show that although Japan has been willing to modify certain constraints on the SDF, it has consistently refused to violate the prohibition on using force overseas, a key norm of Japanese military policy. In the aftermath of the 1990 Persian Gulf crisis, Japan enacted legislation that allows the SDF to join peacekeeping operations. But it also includes numerous safeguards to ensure that personnel do not use military force. Similarly, revision of the Guidelines on US-Japan Defense Cooperation will permit the SDF to provide rear support to US forces outside Japan.; The normative framework is contingent on the existence of the US-Japan alliance, however. The US military presence on Japanese territory shields Japan from situations that would lead it to deploy the SDF, thereby undermining the primary rationale for participation in combat operations. If the alliance were to be terminated or its terms modified, Japan would be forced to reconsider the validity of its postwar normative framework.; By providing a fuller understanding of Japanese military policymaking, my research makes an important contribution to the literature on Japanese foreign policy behavior and the broader debate of how international and domestic factors influence state behavior.