Abstract
This article examines various theoretical viewpoints, assessing their success in explaining Japan’s current security policy towards China. With a variety of theoretically salient factors in place, including a dynamic balance of power, extant regional institutions, economic interdependence and a highly publicized pacifist identity, Japan’s China policy presents a prime opportunity to test different international relations theories. We review four theories of interest, structural realism, neoliberal institutionalism, liberal interdependence and constructivism, finding limited support for structural realist and constructivist predictions. We then offer a neoclassical realist model, building from a realist foundation but accounting for the influence of state structure, strategic culture and parochial interests of governing elites.
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