Oh, to be the "grand strategist" author of best-selling books — and to be the peddler of a strategic concept that purports to explain everything.Clearly, that's the ticket to being able to get away with writing blog posts like this one by Tom Barnett: "Japan will and must un-pacify." In a single thirty-word post, Dr. …
Tag: constitution revision
What manner of constitution debate will Japan have?
In the wake of yesterday's passage of the national referendum bill, each major daily unsurprisingly featured an editorial looking forward to the next three years of debate on revision.In the left-wing Asahi Shimbun, the mood was, unsurprisingly, despondent about the passage of the bill. At the same time, though, the tone was defiant, taking up …
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Let the debate begin?
The Upper House of the Diet passed the national referendum bill this afternoon. In accordance with the bill's provisions, there will be a three-year moratorium on constitution amendments — meaning Japan has until 2011 to have a thorough debate on whether and how to revise the constitution. With luck Japan will have a new, slightly …
Revision as redemption
Ozawa Ichiro, DPJ president, laid into the prime minister on TV Asahi this morning, emphasizing that he disagrees not just with the prime minister's position on constitution revision, but with the prime minister's philosophy root and branch.I'm with Ozawa on this one (and not because I work for a member of his party).Back in January, …
The constitution revision blitz
Amaki Naoto has a fascinating post considering the national referendum age limit issue.To summarize, the LDP draft passed by the Lower House stipulated that the age limit for voting in a national referendum on constitution revision will be twenty, same as for other elections. The rejected DPJ draft, meanwhile, called for lowering the voting age …
Japan’s constitution turns sixty
As Japan celebrates Constitution Day, marking the anniversary of the promulgation of the postwar constitution, the Abe Cabinet has renewed its push to revise the constitution — read Article 9 of the constitution — on the heels of bilateral meetings with the US that pointed to a more globally active US-Japan alliance.In Washington, Defense Minister …
Japan’s long road to normalization
Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations and director of the State Department's Policy Planning Staff early in the Bush administration, has an op-ed on the occasion of Abe's visit that title of which says it all: "Asia's Overlooked Great Power." (Hat tip: Project Syndicate)Most of Haass' essay is innocuous, typical proposals about …
The offensive continues
Yesterday I wrote that the Abe Cabinet launched an "offensive" on the question of collective self-defense.It seems that that offensive continued today, with Prime Minister Abe meeting with Richard Armitage, former deputy secretary of state, co-chair of the groups that produced the two reports on the US-Japan alliance that bear his name (alongside Joseph Nye), …
Collective self-defense offensive
In the past day, the Abe Cabinet has been on the offensive on the question of the review of the prohibition on the right of collective self-defense.Yesterday, Prime Minister Abe said at a press conference, "As the era changes, I want to have a debate about how the constitution should be interpreted."At the Diet, controversial …
Abe interviewed in the Washington Post
In advance of Abe's impending visit to Washington, DC, the Washington Post has published an interview of Abe by Lally Weymouth, journalist and daughter of the late Katherine Graham. It is unclear in which language the interview was conducted or whether Abe was speaking through an interpreter.But regardless of the language, Abe once again displays …
Tobias S. Harris 