Normalizing Japan Politics, Identity, and the Evolution of Security Practice [Hardcover]

Normalizing Japanseeks to answer the question of what future direction Japan's military policies are likely to take, by considering how policy has evolved since World War II, and what factors shaped this evolution. It argues that Japanese security policy has not changed as much in recent years as many believe, and that future change also will be highly constrained by Japan's long-standing security identity, the central principle guiding Japanese policy over the past half-century. Oros' analysis is based on detailed exploration of three cases of policy evolutionrestrictions on arms exports, the military use of outer space, and cooperation with the United States on missile defensewhich shed light on other cases of policy change, such as Japan's deployment of its military to Iraq and elsewhere and its recent creation of a Ministry of Defense. More broadly, the book refines how ideational factors interact with domestic politics and international changes to create policy change. It is clear that a tremendous amount of hard work and research went into the creation of this book .... Credit must be given to Oros for writing a book that is completely borderless with respect to sources, whether text or interviews; he represents a new breed of Japan specialists who operate with equal facility in Japan and in their own countries . . . This book should be required reading for current and aspiring Japan specialist in the arena of politics and security. ...Represents a fine example of the synergy that can be created by drawing upon the strengths of both area studies and discipline. In short, this book stands out as one of the best additions to the field over recent years and represents another excellent contribution to what is shaping up to be a fine series in Asian security studies under the sponsorship of the East-West Center. Normalizing Japanexplains how politics and identity have interacted in postwar Japan to shape Japans distinctive security practices, lcð