Japan: The Backbone of American Militarism in East Asia.
In an article, the former assistant secretary of defense of the United States evaluated the new agreement between Washington and Tokyo on expanding the scope of military cooperation, along with the unprecedented increase in Japan’s military budget, as positive steps in terms of security.
In a note, “Joseph S. Nye Jr.”, a professor at Harvard University, positively considered the new approach of Japan’s militarism and the alliance with the United States to strengthen this issue.
In the note of the former US Defense Secretary, it is stated: It was in December that the Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, announced the most ambitious plan to strengthen the country’s military power. This was Japan’s first major military reinforcement program since the establishment of the country’s defense forces in 1954.
According to Japan’s new military strategy, the country’s defense spending will increase to 2 percent of GDP, which is twice the level that has been common since 1976. This new national security strategy encompasses all the diplomatic, economic, technical, and military tools Japan will use to protect itself in the coming years.
The professor of Harvard University considers the most important part of this new military strategy to be Japan’s acquisition of long-range missiles. Thus this country will cooperate with the United States to strengthen coastal defense in the western Pacific. The origin of these developments goes back to the recent visit of the Japanese Prime Minister to Washington, as well as his visit to several other G7 member countries. At that time, Kishida and US President Joe Biden committed to closer military cooperation between the two countries. According to this former American military official, China’s increasing determination against Taiwan and especially Russia’s attack on Ukraine are good reasons for America and Japan to go towards more militarism.
How is Japan’s militarism justified in East Asia?
The author of this article reminds us that after World War II, the approach of militarism in Japan was severely discredited, and part of it was due to the content of the US Constitution, in which Washington limited the role of the Japanese army to self-defense. did During the Cold War, Japan’s security was tied to cooperation with the United States, and when the Cold War ended in the 1990s, some analysts in both countries considered the bilateral security treaty between the United States and Japan, which had been in force since 1952, considered as a relic of that era.
When China overtook Japan as the world’s second-largest economy in 2010 and disputed Japan’s control of the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, Japan’s growing concerns widened, S Nye Jr. believes. .
