Japanese economic power and security policy in the post-Cold War era : a case study of Japan-North Korea security relations.

This thesis investigates the future direction of Japanese security policy by asking whether Japan can contribute to international security through the use of economic rather than military power after the Cold War, and what are the policy-making obstacles to this. Chapter one outlines how the post-Cold War debate on security has shifted from military to economic conceptions of security, and how this makes it possible to conceive of Japan as a global civilian power which employs its economic strength to contribute to international security. Chapters two and three then go on to construct a detailed theoretical model of economic security policy and Japanese economic power in order to test empirically the concept of global civilian power in the case study. Chapter four introduces the case study of Japan-North Korea security relations and demonstrates that since the end of the Cold War the North Korean security threat has come to be perceived by policy-makers in Japan as generated by economic insecurity, and thus requiring the types of economic solutions that a global civilian power can provide. Chapter five then tests the model of Japanese economic power against the case of North Korea and reveals that even though Japan has the latent capacity to use economic power to help resolve this security problem, as yet it has not mobilised sufficient economic power to enable it to act a global civilian power. Chapter six looks at the internal security policy-making process in Japan in order to explain the reasons behind Japan's non-fulfillment of the role of a global civilian power, and argues that in fact Japan in this period has increased its military role in security by utilising the legitimacy of the North Korean threat. In the light of the preceding arguments, the conclusion reappraises the concept of global civilian power, Japan's security role, and the implications for global security