Description
Although constitutional status of its Self-Defence Forces (SDF) remains subject to intense political debate, Japan’s participation in military exercises beyond its US ally has grown quite rapidly. How military exercises may “shape” a more favourable international environment has drawn recent academic attention (Heuser at al 2017; Wolfley 2022). While Japan’s exercises with the United Kingdom have been examined (Heng 2021; Hughes 2021), a question remains whether Japan’s military exercises may in fact help shape regional order and stability. Japan’s Ministry of Defence for instance claimed the Malabar exercises “Crystalizes shared vision of "Free & Open Indo Pacific“. Drawing from interviews with SDF officers and civilian policymakers, this paper asks to what extent might these exercises help Japan achieve its desired vision of regional order and its signature policy of “proactive contribution to peace”? The paper suggests that Japan’s military exercises 1) socialise partners in shared (and expected) norms of behaviour and lingo through performative acts 2) conduct capacity-building for weaker partners 3) recruit partners and transform relationships to help uphold peace 4) enhance Japan’s own deterrence capabilities
