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- Convenor:
-
Lindsay Black
(Leiden Institute for Area Studies (LIAS))
Send message to Convenor
- Stream:
- Politics and International Relations
- Location:
- Torre A, Piso 0, Sala 05
- Sessions:
- Thursday 31 August, -
Time zone: Europe/Lisbon
Short Abstract:
Japan is becoming isolated in global affairs, fearing abandonment by the US, questioning what Japan stands for and engendering a sense of ontological insecurity. What are the inherent anxieties attendant upon Japan's leadership as they attempt to chart a new foreign policy course in uncertain times?
Long Abstract:
On 17 November 2016, Prime Minister Abe became the first world leader to meet with President-elect Donald Trump. By dashing off to New York to secure guarantees about the direction of Japan-US relations, Abe's scuttle diplomacy demonstrated a profound anxiety about Japan's place in the world; a sense of ontological insecurity. Would the US-Japan alliance remain the cornerstone of Japan's foreign policy and regional security? How would the trade relationship unfold now that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) appeared dead-in-the-water? Could Japan continue to depend upon the US in its relations with China or on non-proliferation and North Korea? Would Japan increasingly have to go it alone in world affairs?
Abe's meeting with Trump merely emphasized an on-going trend in Japan's foreign relations, namely that the country appears to be increasingly alone. By leaning so heavily towards the US, Prime Minister Abe has curtailed Japan's foreign policy options, leaving the country inflexible to the changing dynamics of regional and global affairs. The summer of 2017 had already witnessed Japan being wrong-footed by closer relations between China and the Philippines, despite a ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague that favored the latter and dismissed the expansive territorial claims of the former. With the anticipated demise of the TPP, President Xi Jinping is expected to seize the opportunity to advance the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). By excluding the US, the conclusion of the RCEP could leave Japan playing second fiddle to China in regional economic relations, exacerbating Japan's existing isolation from another emerging regional economic institution: the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB). Facing a raft of on-going social and economic problems, Japan's isolation only renews the sense of pessimism that Japan is in decline. Despite the uncertainties of Japan's current position, there may nevertheless be opportunities for Japanese foreign policymakers to grasp, such as a renewed imperative to reform the constitution. The question remains as to whether Japan's leaders will be flexible enough to chart a new foreign policy course and reestablish a sense of ontological security now that it has been cut adrift.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Thursday 31 August, 2017, -Paper short abstract:
This paper addresses the impact of a changing relationship with America on Sino-Japanese relations, focusing on how this, in turn, affects Japan`s ontological security. It relates the fear of geopolitical abandonment with the reconstruction of the Japanese "Self".
Paper long abstract:
This paper examines the growing uncertainty concerning America's security guarantee on Sino-Japanese relations and how this affects Japan's ontological security. Post-war Japan`s security and position in the world were fundamentally anchored in its alliance with the U.S. Under the Security Alliance Japan focused on its economic recovery and development. Japan's economic prowess became a key soft power tool for Japan. During the Cold War, Japan's Official Development Assistance (ODA) and its financing of international institutions and U.S. military interventions were essential for Japan to exert its influence and develop a renewed sense of purpose. Since the end of the Cold War, critiques of this 'chequebook dilomacy' forced Japan to reinvent its identity and forge a new international security role.
Now economic stagnation and a heightened perception of geopolitical abandonment are pressuring Japan to reconstruct its identity again. The U.S. has increasingly sought a more balanced relationship that demands more from Japan, particularly in terms of balancing Chinese assertive behaviour. At the same time, despite a strong economic relationship, China continues to frame Japan as a victimizing "Other". These factors put Japan's ontological security under sustained pressure, bringing into question whether Japan's sense of self remains tenable in these uncertain times.
Paper short abstract:
This paper addresses the issue of nuclear proliferation in Japan's identity and analyses the impacts caused by the evolving East Asian security landscape. We argue that ongoing transformations may present challenges to Japanese ontological security, bringing the nuclear debate into question.
Paper long abstract:
The renouncement of a nuclear weapons capability is one of the key features of Japan's ontological security. Having for decades maintained a posture of pacifism while relying on the Security Alliance with the United States for the fulfillment of its external security needs, the Japanese pledge for non-proliferation may be considered one of the fundamental projections of its post-war identity and a core normative value when addressing the international community.
However, with a regional security environment characterized by increased tensions and ongoing proliferation, in the midst of dramatic geopolitical transformations, the foundations of Japan's ontological security have been increasingly tested, as the system of stable assurance, guarantees and strategic hedging that they were once based upon is being replaced by a more challenging, multipolar and uncertain reality. This paper argues that while non-proliferation is still one of the main constituents informing Japan's identity configuration, the evolving East Asian security landscape has triggered new ontological security challenges, including bringing Japan's long-standing perspectives on nuclear issues into question. By examining how Japan's ontological security is being contested, this paper sheds light on the dynamics of nuclear proliferation in East Asia, as well as the long term effects on strategic posture and response to expanded nuclear threats.
Paper short abstract:
This paper examines the implications of recent developments in US-Japan relations to Japan's ontological in/security. It views Japan's ambiguity towards the US "Other" as its source of a stable "Self". It offers an alternative perspective of ontological security based on fluid, ambiguous identities.
Paper long abstract:
Despite Donald Trump's antagonistic stance towards the US-Japan Security Alliance, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo showed no hesitation during his visit to New York in assuring the newly-elected US President of Japan's support for his leadership. While there is nothing new about Japanese leaders stressing the importance of aligning with the US for Japan's national security, I propose that looking at ontological security can shed light to what now appears as a desperate move by nationalist conservatives to keep the Alliance intact. Since 1945, Japan has maintained an ambiguous identity in relation to the US. On the one hand, US-Japan Security Alliance is central to the incremental realization of the nationalist conservative pursuit for Japan's remilitarization. On the other, its relations with the US have also played a significant role in shaping Japan's "abnormal" state identity. For the nationalist conservatives, Japan's defeat in the Second World War and subsequent Allied Occupation constitute a humiliating part of history that requires rectification. Yet, Japan was not clearly for or against the US. It has been flexible enough to carve out its own place in the world from being an imperial militaristic state to a non-military, economic superpower. This article argues that Japan's ambiguous attitude towards the US "Other" has been its source of a stable sense of "Self". Recent developments in US-Japan relations suggest that the more Japan seeks to become a "normal" US ally, the more it could become difficult for Japan to respond to emerging security challenges in the region. Contrary to current discourse on ontological security that aims for a clearly defined, routinized Self, this paper intends to offer a perspective of ontological security based on fluid and ambiguous identities, and to demonstrate how routinized relations could also be a source of Japan's ontological insecurity, especially in dealing with a rising China.