Publication

This bulletin discusses Japan's 2014 cabinet decision to reinterpret a constitutional prohibition related to Japan's military forces working together with other states. According to the author, this new policy on "collective self-defense" should be seen, in part, as a commitment by Japan to its military alliance with the US, and also as an attempt to broaden efforts to move beyond the criticism of the country's militarist past, to a new status quo where its “proactive contributions to peace” are welcomed on the international stage.