By Will Atkins
A government’s panel on collective self-defense will face challenges at home and abroad, but is important for the alliance.
In May 2007, during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s first administration, an Advisory Panel on Reconstruction of the Legal Basis for Security was convened. The panel was to advise on the relationship between the Japanese constitution and Asia-Pacific security issues. Among the topics discussed was the right to collective self-defense, permitted under Article 51 of the UN Charter but self-restricted in Japan since 1972 by Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution.
When the panel completed its report in June 2008, it concluded that the existing interpretation of Article 9 was no longer appropriate given the current security environment. Instead, the panel recommended that Article 9 be interpreted to permit not only individual self-defense, but also the right to collective self defense and the participation in collective security operations in support of the United Nations. By the time the report was published, Abe had stepped down as prime minister for health reasons, and his successor, Yasuo Fukuda, opposed further discussions.
The panel was convened again by Abe during his second administration in February 2013. Led by Shunji Yanai (a former ambassador to the U.S.), the panel consisted of 14 experts in foreign affairs and national security, including a former vice foreign minister, former vice defense minister, and experts in international law. After more than a year’s deliberation, their recommendations were made public last Thursday during a press conference by Abe.
Read the full story at The Diplomat