Abstract

Japan has fundamentally shifted its military posture over the last three decades and traversed into a new categorisation of a more capable military power and integrated US ally. This results from Japan’s recognition of its fundamentally changing strategic environment that has required a shift in grand strategy and military doctrines. The shift is traced across the national security strategy components of Japan Self-Defence Forces’ capabilities, the US-Japan alliance integration, and international security cooperation, and new bilateral partnerships and multilateral frameworks. Through this seminar, Professor Chris Hughes will argue that all these components are subordinated to the objectives of homeland security and re-strengthening the US-Japan alliance, and thus Japan’s development as international security partner outside the ambit of the bilateral alliance remains limited.

About the Speaker

Christopher Hughes is Professor of International Politics and Japanese Studies in the Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS), University of Warwick. His research and teaching interests are in the areas of Japan’s international relations; Japanese security and defence policy; the US-Japan alliance; Japan’s defence industry; Asia-Pacific regionalism, security, and political-economy; military technology; and alliance politics. He was formerly Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education), Chair of the Faculty of Social Sciences, and Head of Department in PAIS at Warwick. He has been a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow; Research Fellow, University of Hiroshima; Visiting Associate Professor and Asahi Shimbun Visiting Chair of Mass Media and Politics, Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo; Visiting Professor at Waseda University; Visiting Professor at the Free University of Berlin; Edwin O. Reischauer Visiting Professor of Japanese Studies at the Department of Government, Harvard University; and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Nissan Institute, University of Oxford. He is a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. He has also held associate fellow status at Chatham House and the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Chris is a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, and Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Chris holds degrees from the Universities of Oxford (BA); Rochester, New York (MA); and Sheffield (MA and PhD). Chris is co-editor of The Pacific Review, one of the leading journals focussing on the international politics of the Asia-Pacific. He has authored over 60 refereed journal articles and book chapters, and five monographs. His latest monograph is Japan as a Global Military Power: New Capabilities, Alliance Integration, Bilateralism-Plus (Cambridge University Press, 2022).