Germany and Japan As Regional Actors in the Post-Cold War Era: a Role Theoretical Comparison
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Alexandra Sakaki Germany and Japan as Regional Actors in the Post-Cold War Era: A Role Theoretical Comparison Trier 2011 GERMANY AND JAPAN AS REGIONAL ACTORS IN THE POST-COLD WAR ERA: A ROLE THEORETICAL COMPARISON A dissertation submitted by Alexandra Sakaki to the Political Science Deparment of the University of Trier in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Submission of dissertation: August 6, 2010 First examiner: Prof. Dr. Hanns W. Maull (Universität Trier) Second examiner: Prof. Dr. Christopher W. Hughes (University of Warwick) Date of viva: April 11, 2011 ABSTRACT Germany and Japan as Regional Actors in the Post-Cold War Era: A Role Theoretical Comparison Recent non-comparative studies diverge in their assessments of the extent to which German and Japanese post-Cold War foreign policies are characterized by continuity or change. While the majority of analyses on Germany find overall continuity in policies and guiding principles, prominent works on Japan see the country undergoing drastic and fundamental change. Using an explicitly comparative framework for analysis based on a role theoretical approach, this study reevaluates the question of change and continuity in the two countries‘ regional foreign policies, focusing on the time period from 1990 to 2010. Through a qualitative content analysis of key foreign policy speeches, this dissertation traces and compares German and Japanese national role conceptions (NRCs) by identifying policymakers‘ perceived duties and responsibilities of their country in international politics. Furthermore, it investigates actual foreign policy behavior in two case studies about German and Japanese policies on missile defense and on textbook disputes. The dissertation examines whether the NRCs identified in the content analysis are useful to understand and explain each country‘s particular conduct. Both qualitative content analysis and case studies demonstrate the influence of normative and ideational variables in foreign policymaking. Incremental adaptations in foreign policy preferences can be found in Germany as well as Japan, but they are anchored in established normative guidelines and represent attempts to harmonize existing preferences with the conditions of the post-Cold War era. The dissertation argues that scholars have overstated and misconstrued the changes underway by asserting that Japan is undergoing a sweeping transformation in its foreign policy. [i] ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people I wish to thank for their assistance in the genesis of this dissertation. First and foremost, I am grateful to my advisor, Professor Dr. Hanns W. Maull of Trier University for his thoughtful, probing comments on draft chapters and his support and encouragement during the research and writing process. I owe him my sincere appreciation for his knowledgeable suggestions and help in arranging interviews. Without his guidance, this dissertation would not have been possible. I am indebted to numerous experts, scholars, and government officials, who provided me with helpful insights and comments during interviews. Please note that I omit all academic titles in the following list for better readability. For sharing their perspectives and views on German policy, I would like to thank Hans-Peter Bartels (Member of Bundestag), Kinga Hartmann (Educational Agency of Saxony), Christos Katsioulis (Friedrich-Ebert- Foundation), Patrick Keller (Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation), Hans-Ulrich Klose (Member of Bundestag), Sascha Lange (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik/German Institute for International and Security Affairs), Robert Maier (Georg-Eckert-Institute), Rolf Mützenich (Member of Bundestag), Falk Pingel (Georg-Eckert-Institute), Jürgen Schnappertz (German Foreign Ministry), Benjamin Schreer (Aspen Instiute), Svenja Sinjen (German Council on Foreign Relations), Thomas Strobel (Georg-Eckert-Institute), Karsten D. Voigt (SPD), as well as a staff member of the CDU/CSU parliamentary grouping and a defense expert, who wish to remain unnamed. For generously taking time out of their busy schedules to discuss Japanese policy, I would like to thank Katayama Yoshihiro (Keio University), Kondo Takahiro (Nagoya University), Okonogi Masao (Keio University), Tanaka Hitoshi (Japan Center for International Exchange), Togo Kazuhiko (Temple University Japan), Ueki Chikako Kawakatsu (Waseda University), Yoshizaki Tomonori (National Institute for Defense Studies), Yuzawa Takeshi (Japan Institute of International Affairs), and three experts from the National Institute for Defense Studies as well as a member of the Japan- Korea Joint Research Commission on History, who wish to remain unnamed. For assistance and advice I would furthermore like to thank Alexander Bukh (Tsukuba University), John Campbell (formerly University of Michigan), Robert Dujarric (Temple University Japan), Thomas Heberer (University of Duisburg-Essen), Andrew Horvat (Tokyo Keizai University), Christopher W. Hughes (University of Warwick), Nakai Yoshifumi (Gakushuin University), Tanaka Akihiko (University of Tokyo), Gabrielle Vogt (University of Hamburg), and Klaus Vollmer (Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich). Special thanks to Gilbert Rozman of Princeton University, who nurtured my interest in Japanese foreign policy during my undergraduate studies. [ii] I am deeply grateful for two and a half years of generous support and funding by the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes) as well as for a seven-month research stay at and sponsored by the German Institute for Japanese Studies (Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien) in Tokyo. Without this assistance, I would not have been able to conduct my research. Finally, I would like to thank my family in Germany and Japan for continuous support and help. I am grateful to my mother, Martina Wittig, who patiently read through all my draft chapters and made valuable editing suggestions. Thanks to my husband Akio Sakaki for his moral support throughout the project and for our discussions about Japanese politics. Alexandra Sakaki Düsseldorf, August 2010 [iii] GERMANY AND JAPAN AS REGIONAL ACTORS IN THE POST-COLD WAR ERA: A ROLE THEORETICAL COMPARISON Alexandra Sakaki TABLE OF CONTENTS (OVERVIEW) ABBREVIATIONS AND SPECIAL TERMS .......................................................................... XV INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 Theoretical Approach and Key Questions ................................................................................ 9 Methodological Overview ....................................................................................................... 12 Relevance ................................................................................................................................ 15 Existing Literature .................................................................................................................. 15 Structure ................................................................................................................................. 17 Terminology ............................................................................................................................ 18 CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORKS ................ 19 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 19 Theoretical Approach ............................................................................................................. 20 Methodological Approach ...................................................................................................... 34 Comparative Case Study Approach ........................................................................................ 45 CHAPTER 2 EMPIRICAL RESULTS: ROLE CONCEPTIONS IN GERMAN AND JAPANESE SPEECHES ............................................................................................................. 46 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 46 German and Japanese Role Conceptions in Comparison ...................................................... 47 Overall Comparison of the German and Japanese Role Sets ................................................. 84 CHAPTER 3 GERMAN AND JAPANESE MISSILE DEFENSE POLICIES ...................... 88 Part 1: Introduction and Background ................................................................................................. 88 Part 2: German Policy on Territorial Missile Defense ................................................................... 97 Part 3: German Policy on Missile Defense for Soldiers Abroad ................................................ 120 Part 4: German Policy on Assisting other Countries with MD ................................................... 144 Part 5: Japanese Policy on Territorial Missile Defense ............................................................... 159 Part 6: Japanese Policy on Missile Defense for Soldiers Abroad .............................................. 195 Part 7: Japanese Policy on Assisting other Countries with MD ................................................. 199 Part 8: Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 214 CHAPTER 4 POLICIES