Description
Japan’s release of the three strategic documents lay great emphasis on multilateral security cooperation with regional stability and deterrence in mind as it is committed to regional security more so now than ever before. Considering this new regional movement, this paper studies what this shift means to Japan’s deterrence posture and its implications to regional security. When it comes to Japan's relationship to deterrence, traditionally it usually indicates US extended nuclear deterrence over Japan. While the quintessential form of US extended nuclear deterrence over Japan has remain unchanged since the 1960’s, today there are more deterrent related activities such as large bilateral and multilateral military exercises Japan can utilise (toward a more active form) potentially serving as general deterrence. While in theory this can strengthen Japan’s overall deterrence, it also works the other way around: spiralling a situation rather than deterring it. This paper also considers the dynamism of what Japan embarks on from the perspectives of deterrence.
