Japan as a 'normal country'?
Subtitle: a nation in search of its place in the world
By: edited by Yoshihide Soeya, Masayuki Tadokoro, and David A. Welch
Series: Japan and global society; Japan and global society
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Toronto; Buffalo [N.Y.]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 211
ISBN-13: 9781442642539; 9781442611405
Subjects: Politics and government; Foreign relations; Military policy
Description: "For decades, Japan's foreign policy has been seen by both internal and external observers as abnormal in relation to its size and level of sophistication. Japan as a 'Normal Country'? is a thematic and geographically comparative discussion of the unique limitations of Japanese foreign and defence policy. The contributors reappraise the definition of normality and ask whether Japan is indeed abnormal, what it would mean to become normal, and whether the country can - or should - become so.

Identifying constraints such as an inflexible constitution, inherent antimilitarism, and its position as a U.S. security client, Japan as a 'Normal Country'? goes on to analyse factors that could make Japan a more effective regional and global player. These essays ultimately consider how Japan could leverage its considerable human, cultural, technological, and financial capital to benefit both its citizens and the world."--pub. desc.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Introducton : What is a 'normal country'? / Yoshihide Soeya, Masayuki Tadokoro, and David A. Welch; title: Embracing normalcy : toward a Japanese 'national strategy' / David A. Welch; title: Change and continuity in Japan's 'abnormalcy' : an emerging external attitude of the Japanese public / Masayuki Tadokoro; title: A 'normal' middle power : interpreting changes in Japanese security policy in the 1990s and after / Yoshihide Soeya; title: Conservative conceptions of Japan as a 'normal country' : comparing Ozawa, Nakasone, and Ishihara / Cheol Hee Park; title: Chinese discourse on Japan as a 'normal country' / Jianwei Wang; title: The limits to 'normalcy' : Japanese-Korean post-Cold War interactions / John Swenson-Wright; title: Japan's relations with Southeast Asia in the post-Cold War era : 'abnormal' no more? / Peng Er Lam.