Naval War College Review Volume 71 Article 11 Number 1 Winter 2018 Book Reviews John Bradford Matt olN and Follow this and additional works at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review Recommended Citation Bradford, John and Noland, Matt (2018) "Book Reviews," Naval War College Review: Vol. 71 : No. 1 , Article 11. Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol71/iss1/11 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Naval War College Review by an authorized editor of U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Bradford and Noland: Book Reviews BOOK REVIEWS EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN—EXCEPT WHAT’S NEW Japan’s Security Renaissance: New Policies and Politics for the Twenty-First Century, by Andrew L� Oros� New York: Columbia Univ� Press, 2017� 320 pages� $90� Andrew Oros, director of international both transitional eras were marked by studies at Washington College, opens significant advances in communications his new book provocatively, proclaim- technology that enabled a more rapid ing that in security policy “Japan is exchange of ideas and greater access back �” He then describes a series of for previously marginalized sections government decisions made in the of society to participate in political last decade that indicate a shift away discourse� In Europe, this technology from Japan’s postwar reliance on was the movable-type printing press; in soft power and economic diplomacy Japan, it is Internet-based social media� toward a more pragmatic and mili- A decade ago, Richard J� Samuels’s tarized national security posture� Securing Japan: Tokyo’s Grand Strategy Oros uses the Western European Renais- and the Future of East Asia (Cornell, sance as a self-admittedly imperfect 2007) described the nascent formation framework for understanding the of a new political consensus in Japan threshold-crossing transitions that have under which realpolitik policies would taken place within Japan’s incremental supplant the long-standing Yoshida evolution� He draws four general paral- Doctrine as the nation’s predominant lels between the two renaissances� First, security paradigm� Oros’s book focuses both situations blossomed after cul- on the years since the publication of tural taboos were challenged in public� Securing Japan, a period bookended by Second, both were directly related to Shinzo Abe’s terms as prime minister, to changes in the global order� Third, just describe a Tokyo where such a consensus as Western Europe’s Renaissance was has taken hold and the security commu- entwined with a growth in interest in nity now partakes in “a level of realistic the region’s classical legacy, many groups and practical discussion of Japan’s in contemporary Japan are reevaluating defense needs unimaginable in previous their views of history, particularly their decades�” Japan’s Security Renaissance perspectives on the nation’s military analyzes elements of this new consensus, and cultural accomplishments� Finally, including a series of decisions ranging Published by U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons, 2018 1 Winter2018Review.indb 159 11/1/17 9:56 AM 160 NAVAL WAR COLLEGENaval REVIEW War College Review, Vol. 71 [2018], No. 1, Art. 11 from the 2007 establishment of the that in turn sowed the seeds for the Ministry of Defense, the 2009 develop- Enlightenment� However, a thorough ment of Japan’s first overseas military analysis of the Renaissance shows that base, the 2014 relaxation of arms-export the process was also painful, as seen controls and a constitutional reinter- in the wars of religion that ravaged pretation to allow the limited exercise Europe in the seventeenth century� of collective self-defense, and the 2016 While Oros does not venture a value security legislation, to the continued judgment, he cautions the reader to buildup of advanced defense systems� consider some of the more disturbing The book also makes the important possibilities this new renaissance may point that this shift in thinking is bring for Japan, the United States, not confined to a handful of leaders and Asia’s delicate security balance� or a single political party, but is The book is not without its faults� influential across major parties and It includes a chapter of theoretical throughout much of Japan’s policy reflections that seems a bit misplaced� community� Oros explains that these That chapter’s discussions of political changes arrive in a context in which worldviews lack the foundational Japan is viewed as a declining power explanations needed by those without in Asia, and are underwritten by three training in international relations theory, historical legacies: contested memories while the narrative descriptions of the of imperial Japan and the war, postwar subsequent chapters will disappoint antimilitarism, and the unequal nature academically inclined readers hoping of the alliance with the United States� to learn Oros’s thoughts regarding Organizing the book into six chapters, the conceptual implications of Japan’s Oros presents his argument in scholarly, new security posture� Perhaps a more but never pedantic, writing� The reader vexatious complaint is that the author is impressed by the author’s knowledge relegates valuable information and and benefits from his large network of analysis to endnotes, which forces informed Japanese contacts� In addition, the reader to flip pages continually or his argument is both convincing and risk missing some of the book’s most of considerable significance, given that insightful facts and assessments� in the same decade the Asian security Still, this book will stand out as one context has grown more complex� The of the most important studies of the author’s largely positive conclusion Japanese security landscape published discusses implications for Japan, in English in recent years� A highly the United States, the Asia-Pacific readable treatment of Japan’s last decade, region, and the rest of the world� Japan’s Security Renaissance provides Oros also hints, however, at potential a useful starting point for those uncertainty and risk ahead� Contem- seeking to understand what is going porary students generally view the on in Japan and an essential read for European Renaissance in a positive specialists keeping track of the many light, as it gave rise to new ways of changes in Asian security dynamics� thinking, including the empiricism JOHN BRADFORD AND MATT NOLAND https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol71/iss1/11 2 Winter2018Review.indb 160 11/1/17 9:56 AM Bradford and Noland: Book Reviews BOOK REVIEWS 161 operations� Flynn sketches his innova- tions, offers a few stories, and trumpets his “maverick” nature and dislike of The Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global rules� There are few new insights, War against Radical Islam and Its Allies, by Mi- however� Those interested in the opera- chael T� Flynn and Michael Ledeen� New York: St� Martin’s, 2016� 208 pages� $26�99� tional angle will find better treatments in recent books by James Kitfield and General Michael Flynn rose from Sean Naylor or McChrystal’s memoir� relative obscurity to become President Donald Trump’s first national security The book then shifts to the global threats advisor—only to be forced to resign just facing America� And a threatening world thirty-four days after Trump’s inaugura- it is, as Flynn and Ledeen see imminent tion� While Flynn’s White House tenure existential challenges from terror was brief, his views align with those groups such as ISIS and Hezbollah, of Trump’s inner circle—few of whom plus rogue nations such as Iran, Russia, have public writings of their own� North Korea, China, Venezuela, Cuba, Flynn’s 2016 book Field of Fight—part and Bolivia� They contend that these memoir, part strategic vision—therefore actors—Sunni and Shia, Levantine and provides insight into a White House Latin—cooperate as an anti-U�S� axis� that eschews foreign policy conventions� While dissimilar states and groups do Unfortunately, what Field of Fight sometimes have operational links—e�g�, offers is a breathless portrayal of global cooperation on sanctions busting—the conspiracies and civilizational clash with book’s portrayal of an axis is overdrawn� Islam, and policy recommendations Moreover, Flynn seems to use loudness not developed much beyond slogans� of rhetoric rather than capability to measure threat� Near-peer China is Michael T� Flynn is a career Army ignored, while worries about basket case intelligence officer (also an alumnus Venezuela are raised several times� of the Naval War College and a Middletown, Rhode Island, native) Flynn considers “radical Islam” the who reached the three-star rank of primary danger, in that losing the lieutenant general� His coauthor, fight literally would mean the U�S� Dr� Michael Ledeen, has authored government overthrown, ISIS’s flag numerous books and articles on U�S� over the White House, and 350 mil- Middle East policy� The two are listed lion Americans either converted or as coauthors, but the book is written in beheaded� Tautologically true, perhaps, Flynn’s first-person voice throughout� but laughable as serious threat as- sessment (one recalls the 1984 movie The first third of Field of Fight is a Red Dawn)� The definition of radical memoir of Flynn’s career� Of greatest Islam is slippery, but Flynn and Ledeen interest are Flynn’s assignments in Iraq place Iran squarely at the center� They and Afghanistan, among them serving contend that the Shia-Sunni divide, let as chief of intelligence for General alone ethno-national differences, means Stanley A� McChrystal� By all accounts, little� ISIS and Al Qaeda are portrayed Flynn played a key role in developing as generally collaborating with senior intelligence-led, quick-exploitation Published by U.S.