Japan’s Threat Perception during the Cold War: A Psychological Account

Description

Oren re-examines Japan’s threat perception during the first two decades of the Cold War, using a wide range of source materials, including many unavailable in English, or only recently declassified. There is a widely shared misconception that during the Cold War the Japanese were largely shielded from threats due to the American military protection, the regional balance of power, Japan’s geographical insularity, and domestic aversion to militarism. Oren dispels this, showing how security threats pervaded Japanese strategic thinking in this period. By dispelling this misconception, Oren enables us to more accurately gauge the degree to which Japan’s threat perception has evolved during and after the end of the Cold War and to enhance our understanding of Tokyo’s strategic calculus in the current situation of rivalry between China and the United States. This book will be of great value to both scholars of Japanese history and contemporary international relations. Cover Half Title Series Title Copyright Contents List of figures List of tables Preface Acknowledgments 1 Japan’s threat perception – introduction Japan’s Cold War threat perception – why does it matter? Existing accounts of Japan’s Cold War threat perception Sources of confusion in existing accounts of Japan’s Cold War threat perception Factor one – insufficient conceptualization and operationalization of threat perception and weak research designs Factor two – the taboo on designating foreign countries as dangerous Factor three – downplaying threats: strategic preferences and motivated biases Notes Bibliography 2 An alternative framework for the analysis of Japan’s threat perception Threat perception: methodological assumptions The nature of threat perception Three convergent operational definitions for “threat perception” Indicators, data, and methods Source of data Methods Data interpretation Notes Bibliography 3 Japan’s threat perception in the early Cold War era (1952–1972) Conduct Measures related to the SDF Extraordinary means taken to secure Japan outside the SDF Speech State-based threats Frequently debated dangers Thought Defense establishment Elected leaders Consolidating the findings Revisiting the realist and constructivist explanations of the LPT proposition Notes Bibliography 4 Explaining Japan’s threat perception Balancing a wide range of security threats and vulnerabilities Strategic preferences Probing the limits of taboo in Cold War Japan Motivated biases Personal experience with the threat, estimated exposure to future threat, and an acute sense of organizational vulnerability The spatial distribution of dangers Novelty Integrative account Notes Bibliography 5 Conclusion Why should anyone care? Situating the book’s findings in Cold War studies and security studies Future research Notes Bibliography Index