Reaching for Change
Where were you, what were you doing, when the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington took place? None of us have forgotten the horror and anger we felt at that moment, and it was a shock shared all over the world as people watched the events unfold on television.
In this issue we examine how Japan is trying to address the question: メWhat next?モ and explore the directions for change. Except for the lead essay by Yamauchi Masayuki, most of the articles as well as the round-table discussion presented in this issue were published before September 11. All of them are from recent issues of the Japanese edition of Gaiko Forum. The authors were already calling for changes initiated by Japanese themselves to respond to the challenges that culminated in the first year of the new millennium, when the events of September 11 shook the world. Now, more than ten years after the end of the Cold War, it is clear that Japanユs foreign policy is at an important crossroads.
Japanese foreign policy is indeed swiftly changing, but how? What was lacking in previous foreign policy, given the circumstances of international society? What kinds of changes is Japan trying to achieve? The essays by Okamoto Yukio (foreign affairs critic at the time of writing and subsequently a special adviser to the Koizumi Junユichiro cabinet on foreign affairs issues following the terrorist attacks) and by Kato Ryozo (deputy vice-foreign minister for foreign affairs at the time of writing, and now the Japanese ambassador to the United States) provide an understanding of how these questions are being answered today.
We are also pleased to present the contributions of authors with strong insights on a broad range of issues: Japanese policy toward Africa, points in maritime law, the possibilities for a new framework for Asian regionalism, and historical perspectives on Japanユs foreign policy. Japan is often accused of passivity and indifference to international events, but such an impression belies the genuine concern Japanese feel. Active discussion and debate are going on, more of which need to be shared with readers outside Japan. In the hope that it will stimulate and add substance to debate on the subject, the English edition of Gaiko Forum strives to bring readers timely, serious, and critical writing on Japanユs foreign policy and the way it is addressing some of the diverse issues of the present.
Ito Misako
get
Acrobat
Reader
This essay was written in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington by a specialist in Islamic studies and member of the editorial board of Gaiko Forum. Warning that Japan, too, could be the target of terrorism, he calls on Japanese to squarely face the new type of warモ and urges Japan to build on its experience of diplomatic affairs in the Middle East.
Japan's Response to War Overseas:How Not to Make the Same Mistake Twice/Okamoto Yukio
Ten years since the Persian Gulf War, the author recalls his position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the time and the hot spots he and his staff weathered, hemmed in by inadequate legislation and precedent. If nothing is done to learn from experience, he writes, Japan will find itself in the same difficulties as before. The Sept. 11 attacks took place two months after this article was published, and it is said that Okamotoユs timely insights helped the Japanese government deal more quickly with the situation.
Change and Post-Cold War Japanese Security: Alliance vs. Community of Shared Destiny /Kato Ryozo
Japanese diplomacy has changed in many ways, but its peace diplomacy� remains a constant. The serving ambassador to the United States discusses the vital importance of maintaining the U.S.-Japan security treaty alliance, reflecting on the value and potential of the relationship.
Round TableThe Last Holdout: Impediments to Reform of Japanユs Security SystemSakamoto Kazuya/Sasajima Masahiko/Morimoto Satoshi/Umemoto Kazuyoshi
Fifty years since the San Francisco Peace Treaty, there have been calls for all manner of reformsムof its economic system, insurance system, administrative structure, educationムbut security-related reforms may pose the most formidable challenge of all, including the potential for enactment of a Fundamental Law on National Security.
Japan-Africa Relations in the Twenty-first Century/Oda Hideo
Inasmuch as foreign affairs are concerned both with problems directly relating to the national interest and global problems shared by international society as a whole, the resuscitation of Africa holds the key to the stability and prosperity of the world of the twenty-first century. This essay explains the significance of an historical first the visit by a serving Japanese prime minister to the African continent.
The Living Spirit of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance /Fujii Hiroaki
The Anglo-Japanese alliance forged one hundred years ago was called the backbone of Japanユs foreign policy at the time, just as the U.S.-Japan alliance is considered the cornerstone of its foreign policy today. Can the U.S.-Japanese alliance meet the challenge of two countries with racial and cultural differences to maintain an enduring friendship?
The Evoliving Law and Politics of the Sea/Yamamoto Soji
As a maritime state, Japanユs boundaries are connected by the sea with those of other countries. Maritime law provides solutions to the many problems that arise, in commerce, national defense, fisheries, resources, and piracy. How does Japan interpret the international law and take advantage of its support? The only Japanese appointed as judge to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea explains.
Building East Asian Regionalism:ASEAN + 3 and The Role of Japan/ Terada Takashi
ASEAN + 3 (Japan, China, Korea) is gaining attention as the pivot of regionalism in East Asia comparable with NAFTA and the EU. How was solidarity among Japan, China, and Korea, long considered very difficult to achieve, finally attained? Will this new collaboration lead to East Asian summits?
Political Dysfunction and the Decline of Empire/Shiono Nanami
One of the most admired intellectuals in Japan today has for the past decade been writing a new history of the Roman empire. Her story begins with the birth of the empire and its heyday, about which Edward Gibbon did not write, and extends to its decline. To many Japanese readers, it is a history from which their own country has much to learn.
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