October 22, 2013
Japanese political leaders – faced with emerging security concerns ranging from territorial disputes with China to the nascent North Korean nuclear arsenal – are reevaluating how their constitution limits the Japanese military’s ability to project power beyond its self-defense. While Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution “forever renounce[s] war” and “the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes,” Japan’s changing security environment raises several questions. Is Japan heading towards more military activism under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his recently reelected coalition? Will Abe be successful in changing the Japanese Constitution? What are the major forces at play in this domestic debate?
This Policy Brief by Satoru Mori, Visiting Scholar, outlines competing viewpoints debating the future direction of Japan’s Self-Defense Force, its constitution, and Tokyo’s foreign policy toward its neighbors and the United States.
Read the rest of the Policy Brief here.
By Satoru Mori, Professor, Department of Global Politics, Hosei University, Japan
