Japan, Asian, and Global broader peace operations: functional engagement amid regional estrangement

ABSTRACT

This paper examines Japanese unity of Overseas Despatch Operation (ODO) actors, laws, and operational aspects, interaction with state and institutional actors, ‘4C’ functional regional engagement and concepts of partnership, and Japan’s United Nations Peace Operations-Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Relief Operations (UNPO-HADRO) nexus. Japanese cooperation for dual liberal-international peace and realist security goals within increasing regional strategic competition and nationalist antipathy is examined, particularly in Japan’s ‘poor neighbourhood’. The paper questions why, despite undoubted expertise, Japan has not emerged as a regional UNPO-HADRO development leader, and whether Japanese UNPO-HADRO and ‘pro-active pacifism’ approaches are utilising UNPO-HADRO for Asia-regional strategic competition purposes? Japanese ODO have played important functional engagement, value sharing, and institutional socialisation roles, with integrated legal-civil–military holistic approaches providing models for others and foundations for partnerships. However, despite specialist capacity-building knowledge transfer efforts Asian disquiet remains concerning cooperation and partnership. Japan remains highly risk-averse, raising questions regarding its dependability, and ‘HADRO-CIMIC superpower-aspirations’, or bridging-actor role between Indo-Pacific and ‘Northern-Developed’ practitioners, can be evaluated by Japan’s modest present UNPO actor status. Japanese leadership and initiative is limited by its neighborhood and attendant institutions, but also by its self-perceived identity shaped by historical, alliance, and leadership challenges to manage relative decline.

KEYWORDS:

• Japan
• peace operations
• HADR
• strategic partnership
• civil-military cooperation
• JSDF

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Garren Mulloy is a Professor in the Faculty of International Relations and Graduate School of Asian Area Studies of Daito Bunka University, where he has taught since 2003. He received his Doctorate from Newcastle University and has published on peace and security issues, history, and international relations.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by The British Academy/Leverhulme trust: [grant number small grants scheme project number SRG\170645].