Accession Number:
ADA279924
Title:
Japan's Self-Defense Forces: What Dangers to Northeast Asia
Descriptive Note:
Final rept.
Corporate Author:
ARMY WAR COLL STRATEGIC STUDIES INST CARLISLE BARRACKS PA
Personal Author(s):
Report Date:
1994-05-01
Pagination or Media Count:
49.0
Abstract:
The author addresses the concerns frequently raised by East Asians that Japan may become a military threat to other nations of the region. He describes and analyzes Japanese defense policy as it has evolved over some four decades, and the capabilities of its Self-Defense Forces SDF, to ascertain if the fears of a remilitarized Japan have any basis in fact. He determines that Japanese defense policy places rigid restraints on the SDF, and that currently there is no support for anything but a thoroughly defensive military posture. Moreover, the SDF lack the force projection capability to attack any of Japans neighbors, and could not attain such a capability in less than a decade even if there were a political decision to do so. Finally, the preponderance of evidence suggests that future generations of leaders are no more likely to pursue a military role in the region than the generation which has governed since the end of the occupation in 1952. Japan, East Asia, Self-Defense Forces SDF, Peacekeeping, Northeast Asia, Asia-Pacific Region, Sea Lines of Communication SLOC
Descriptors:
Subject Categories:
- Government and Political Science
- Geography
- Military Forces and Organizations
- Military Operations, Strategy and Tactics