The limits of a global partnership: Japan's foreign relations in the post-Cold War world
type: CreativeWork
description: "Realist theories of international relations would seem to conflict with the notion of a ""global partnership,"" announced in 1989 by the US and Japan to serve as the framework for their leadership roles in the post Cold War international order. On the contrary, I demonstrate that both the US and Japan had realist based intentions in mind with the announcement of a global partnership, and argue that realist theories of international relations, particularly the realist concern with relative gains, explain the post Cold War foreign policy agendas of, and conflicts between, the US and Japan. Additionally, I argue that Japanese foreign policy has been shaped by the imperatives of the international system on the one hand, and is a reflection of Japan's culture and history on the other. Yet rather than converging, these two realms have always been distinct, and their divergence has become clearer in the post Cold War international order. When Japan has pursued a foreign policy ""independent"" from that of US policy, it has been interpreted as either a challenge to US leadership, or as the action of a maverick that challenges the ideals of the alliance or the presumed shared ideals of the Western democracies in which Japan is usually grouped. This second strand of foreign policy, based on history and culture, is now on equal footing with the US strand, and provides a possible explanation for Japan's foreign policy since the end of the Cold War, as well as a potential source of conflict with the notion of a ""global partnership"" with the US."
abstract: "Realist theories of international relations would seem to conflict with the notion of a ""global partnership,"" announced in 1989 by the US and Japan to serve as the framework for their leadership roles in the post Cold War international order. On the contrary, I demonstrate that both the US and Japan had realist based intentions in mind with the announcement of a global partnership, and argue that realist theories of international relations, particularly the realist concern with relative gains, explain the post Cold War foreign policy agendas of, and conflicts between, the US and Japan. Additionally, I argue that Japanese foreign policy has been shaped by the imperatives of the international system on the one hand, and is a reflection of Japan's culture and history on the other. Yet rather than converging, these two realms have always been distinct, and their divergence has become clearer in the post Cold War international order. When Japan has pursued a foreign policy ""independent"" from that of US policy, it has been interpreted as either a challenge to US leadership, or as the action of a maverick that challenges the ideals of the alliance or the presumed shared ideals of the Western democracies in which Japan is usually grouped. This second strand of foreign policy, based on history and culture, is now on equal footing with the US strand, and provides a possible explanation for Japan's foreign policy since the end of the Cold War, as well as a potential source of conflict with the notion of a ""global partnership"" with the US."
author: Leitch, Richard D., Jr
language: eng
keywords: History, Modern, Political Science, International Law and Relations
date published: 2011-05-07T12:48:20Z
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:25:16Z
provider: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/20755