Japan's Peacekeeping at a Crossroads

Taking a Robust Stance or Remaining Hesitant?

Hiromi Nagata Fujishige, Yuji Uesugi, Tomoaki Honda

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN:
  9783030885083
• Edition: 0
• eBook ISBN:
  9783030885090
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Japanese History
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This open access book examines why Japan discontinued its quarter-century history of troop contribution to UN Peacekeeping Operations (1992–2017). Japan had deployed its troops as UN peacekeepers since 1992, albeit under a constitutional limit on weapons use. Japan's peacekeepers began to focus on engineering work as its strength, while also trying to relax the constraints on weapons use, although to a minimal extent. In 2017, however, Japan suddenly withdrew its engineering corps from South Sudan, and has contributed no troops since then. Why? The book argues that Japan could not match the increasing "robustness" of recent peacekeeping operations and has begun to seek a new direction, such as capacity-building support.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction: The Pursuit of “Integration” and “Robustness” in Japan’s Peacekeeping Policy
• 2. The Historical Background to Japan’s Peacekeeping Policy from the Early Postwar Era to the Establishment of the PKO Act 1945–1992
• 3. The Evolution of Japan’s Peacekeeping Policy 1992–2012
• 4. Recent Developments in Japan’s International Peace Cooperation Under the Second Abe Government 2012–2020
• 5. Cambodia: Japan’s First UNPKO Contribution
• 6. East Timor: Adapting to “Integration” and Responding to “Robustness”
• 7. Haiti: The Development of “Seamless” Assistance from Disaster Relief to UNPKOs
• 8. South Sudan: The SDF and “Protection of Civilians”
• 9. Conclusion: Japan’s Search for a New Direction in Peacekeeping
• Back Matter