By Lionel Fatton
How Japan’s new civil-military relations change its security posture and policy.
In a recent article published in The Diplomat, Robert Dujarric argues that the revamp of Japan’s defense legislation by the cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has far slighter consequences for the security posture and policy of the country and for the potential use of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) abroad than most stakeholders and observers assert.
The heart of his argument is that since the creation of the SDF during the 1950s, the Japanese armed forces could have been used for any scenario, from defense to aggression, given favorable domestic and international circumstances. In case of international tensions affecting directly the country, a government supported by its population could have used the SDF in any manner irrespective of the defense legislation in force. In other words, legislation is always flexible when it comes to urgent situations that put at risk the security of the country and its population, the executive being able to overcome legal hurdles through the reinterpretation or revision of laws, or the enactment of emergency bills. As such, the impact of the current revision of Japan’s defense legislation must not be overstated.
That argument is rational, and important as it puts into perspective the highly polarized and often passionate debate around the revision of Japan’s defense legislation, amid Abe’s rush to enact the bills by the end of the current parliament session, which has now been extended. However, in addition to the fact that legislation is never as weak in the face ofrealpolitik as Dujarric asserts, providing the opposition with arguments to counter the initiatives of the executive, the argument misses the point.
Read the full story at The Diplomat