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Volume 12, Number 3, October 2000
Contributors
Beyond Self-defence? Evaluating Japan's Regional Security Role under the New Defence Cooperation Guidelines by Aurelia George Mulgan
In spite of the self-imposed constraints on Japan's security posture, the new Japan–US Defence Cooperation Guidelines which became Japanese law in May 1999 represent a potentially significant step in the evolution of Japan's defence roles and its burden-sharing with the United States. The new guidelines commit Japan to a range of rear-support functions and operational cooperation with US forces in the event of a regional contingency. The key question raised by the new guidelines is whether they sanction a new regional security role for Japan. Whilst confirming the basic framework of Japanese defence policy, the new guidelines appear to signal a Japanese contribution to the regional security functions of the US–Japan alliance and hence mark an important departure from Japan's traditional focus on self-defence.
Nationalism and Identity in Post-Cold War Japan by Gavan McCormack
The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the 'bubble' economy fed a mood of malaise and desire for renewal in Japan. The 1990s, however, were a time of political and economic stagnation, not renewal. The crisis of national identity and purpose deepened. This paper argues that the problem is rooted in an unresolved split between the aspiration to clarify a national identity and a national path, and the deepening structural subordination to the United States. Late century Japanese nationalism has been mostly a truncated, pseudonationalism, confined to culture, which therefore finds expression in symbolic and rhetorical mode, not in substance. Recent legislation to establish the Hinomaru and Kimigayo as national flag and anthem, and the national campaigns to promote a 'pure', 'proud', and 'correct' history, lead towards a reconstruction and reaffirmation of the country's imperial and foundation myths, complicating Japan's relations with its Asian neighbours, while at a structural level the 'guidelines' legislation commits it to a much higher level of military integration and subordination to the United States than during the Cold War. Japan's 'dependent nationalism' is likely to further complicate Japan's relations with the United States and Asia.
Global Governance and Strategies for Civil Society by Gary Smith, Michael Muetzelfeldt
In this paper we explore some linkages between globalisation, civil society and governance in order to develop a strategic approach to how civil society may engage with state and interstate institutions of governance. We propose that, just as national civil societies depend on and in turn support particular features in state systems, the prospects for an emerging global civil society also depend on similarly appropriate features in the institutions of regional or global governance. We discuss four possible relationships between civil society and governance institutions, depending on whether governance is facilitating or obstructive to civil society, and whether it is strong or weak. This suggests a range of strategies for non-government organisations (NGOs) and networks depending on the features of the institutions with which they are engaged. We then illustrate the model using the eventually successful campaign for East Timorese self-determination. This case shows how the strategic engagement of global civil society networks with state and interstate institutions eventually lead to a positive result through drawing these institutions into supportive roles.
Australian Defence Planning: Problems and Prospects by Desmond Ball
Extraordinary events in Asia (such as the East Timor experience) have challenged Australia's defence strategy and demanded an urgent policy review. Rapid strategic change has highlighted the critical importance of lateral thinking and readiness to analyse alternative scenarios based on reliable intelligence. It has brought into relief the complacent attitude towards the US alliance and the defence spending. The new regional security environment has also highlighted the importance of Australia's proactive engagement with the region for promoting arms control and stability.
Political Legitimacy and the Post-colonial State in the Pacific: Reflections on Some Common Threads in the Fiji and Solomon Islands Coups by Greg Fry
The recent hostage crises in Fiji and the Solomon Islands quickly merged into a series of deeper crises to do with the political legitimacy of the government of the day, of the Constitution, of 'democracy', and even of the idea of the post-colonial state itself as a continuing political entity. While the other twelve post-colonial states in the Pacific share many of the common threads in Fiji and the Solomon Islands, these are unlikely to turn into ethno-nationalist crises concerned with the very survival of democratic change, the system of governance and of the state itself.
In Dialogue on the Ethic of Consensus: A Reply to Shapcott by Christian Reus-Smit
A Response to Christian Reus-Smit by Richard Shapcott
Book Reviews