Chapter Two: The role of the IISS in bridging Japanese and Western strategic thinking

Abstract

Strategic links between Japan and Europe during the Cold War were limited. During this period the IISS helped bridge the gap between the two, exposing its membership base to the international affairs of Asia and Japan and providing Japanses scholars, strategists and diplomats with a platform from which to amplify their voices in the West. Analyses by these experts often appeared in IISS publications, but the Institute also gained key insights through its well-established conferences and lecture series. These initiatives illuminated Japanese strategic thinking and perspectives on contemporary critical issues in Japan’s and Asia’s foreign, security and defence policy.

This Adelphi book, through its collection of earlier analysis, helps the reader to understand the evolution of Japanese strategic thought from the 1960s until today, and shines a light on the continuities and changes in this thinking. New, original analysis of the material seeks to identify areas where such thinking was prescient and remains relevant to the contemporary strategic environment, and other areas where predictions failed or assumptions were proved wrong. These new essays were also informed by interviews of Japanese senior scholars and diplomats who spent time with the IISS. This book seeks to frame, educate and guide strategic thinking on the most pressing issues of today, both in and outside Japan and Asia, and will be of great interest to analysts, practitioners and students of international affairs.

Notes

1 Institute for Strategic Studies (ISS), ‘Fifth Annual General Meeting’, 24 March 1964, pp. 3–4, accessed in IISS Library Archives.

2 ISS, ‘Fifth Annual General Meeting’, accessed in IISS Library Archives.

3 ISS, ‘Sixth Annual General Meeting Report: Chairman’s Report’, 28 April 1965, p. 2, accessed in IISS Library Archives.

4 See Ogata Sadako, ‘The Japanese Attitude Towards China’, Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, vol. 7, no. 9, 1965, originally published in Asian Survey, August 1965; Kishida Junnosuke, ‘Chinese Nuclear Development’, Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, vol. 9, no. 9, 1967, originally published in Japan Quarterly, 1967; and Imai Ryukichi, ‘The Non-Proliferation Treaty and Japan’, Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, vol. 11, no. 9, 1969, originally published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, May 1969.

5 ISS, ‘Notice of Annual General Meeting: Chairman’s Reports, Accounts’, April 1966, p. 16, accessed in IISS Library Archives.

6 ISS, ‘Notice of Annual General Meeting: Chairman’s Reports, Accounts’, April 1967, p. 4, accessed in IISS Library Archives.

7 See ‘Ajia heiwa kokusai kaigi mikka me – anzenhoshō to kaku ni shūchū, taikoku no yakuwari o saguru’ [Day Three of the International Conference on Asian Security Problems: Concentration on Security and Nuclear, Exploring Major Powers’ Role], Yomiuri Shimbun, 10 April 1967. According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, the ten countries were Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, South Korea, Sweden, the UK and the US. See also ‘Ajia heiwa kokusai kaigi’ [International Conference on Asian Security Problems], Yomiuri Shimbun, 30 March 1967, p. 1.

8 ISS, ‘Notice of Annual General Meeting: Chairman’s Reports, Accounts’, June 1969, p. 14, accessed in IISS Library Archives.

9 Editors’ interview with Dr Robert O’Neill, 23 November 2022.

10 Editors’ interview with Professor Nishihara Masashi, 16 December 2022.

11 Editors’ interview with Christoph Bertram, 20 December 2022.

12 Editors’ interview with Sir John Chipman KCMG, 26 September 2022.

13 Ibid.

14 IISS, ‘Notice of Annual General Meeting: Chairman’s Report, Accounts’, July 1971, p. 2, accessed in IISS Library Archives.

15 IISS, ‘Notice of Annual General Meeting: Chairman’s Report, Accounts’, May 1973, p. 6, accessed in IISS Library Archives.

16 In March 1972, the IISS hosted a conference on ‘Social and External Factors Influencing Japanese Foreign Policies during the 1970s’, held near Mount Fuji. In March 1974, the IISS hosted a special working conference held with the JIIA and the Brookings Institution to discuss arms control. In October 1978, the IISS held a conference in Japan with the Brookings Institution and the Yomiuri Shimbun.

17 Editors’ interview with Christoph Bertram, 20 December 2022.

18 IISS, ‘Notice of Annual General Meeting: Chairman’s Report, Accounts’, June 1976, p. 5, accessed in IISS Library Archives.

19 Editors’ interview with Dr Robert O’Neill, 23 November 2022.

20 Ibid.

21 See Saeki Kiichi, Japan’s Security in a Multipolar World, Adelphi Papers, vol. 12, issue 92 (London: IISS, 1972); Admiral Uchida Kazutomi, Naval Competition and Security in East Asia, Adelphi Papers, vol. 16, issue 124 (London: IISS, 1976); Kosaka Masataka, Options for Japan’s Foreign Policy, Adelphi Papers, vol. 13, issue 97 (London: IISS, 1973); Theo Sommer, Kosaka Masataka and Robert R. Bowie, ‘Strategic Forum: American Policy After Vietnam’, Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, vol. 15, no. 3, 1973; Miyoshi Osamu, The Nixon Doctrine in Asia, in East Asia and the World System. Part I: The Superpowers and the Context: Papers from the IISS 14th Annual Conference, Adelphi Papers, vol. 12, issue 91 (London: IISS, 1972); Muraoka Kunio, Japanese Security and the United States, Adelphi Papers, vol. 13, issue 95 (London: IISS, 1973); and Kishida Junnosuke, ‘Japan’s non-nuclear policy’, Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, vol. 15, no. 1, 1973.

22 Editors’ interview with Satoh Yukio, 14 December 2022.

23 Nishihara Masashi, ‘Heiwa Anzenhoshō Kenkyūjo no Ayumi: Sōritsu Yonjūsan Nen wo Furikaete’ [The History of RIPS: Reflecting 43 Years Since the Establishment], Research Institute for Peace and Security (RIPS), October 2021, p. 5, https://www.rips.or.jp/jp/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/bd7ca8c2c35528d30d7642b89f7789bf.pdf.

24 IISS, ‘Notice of Annual General Meeting: Chairman’s Report, Accounts’, July 1971, p. 6, accessed in IISS Library Archives.

25 These include the following: Options for Japan’s Foreign Policy; ‘Crisis Control in Regional Conflicts’, in The Diffusion of Power. Part II: Conflict and its Control: Papers from the IISS 18th Annual Conference, Adelphi Papers, vol. 17, issue 134 (London: IISS, 1977); and ‘East Asia, the Pacific and the West: Strategic Trends and Implications: Part II’, in East Asia, the West and International Security: Prospects for Peace: Part I Papers from the IISS 28th Annual Conference, Adelphi Papers, vol. 27, issue 216 (London: IISS, 1987).

26 Editors’ interview with Christoph Bertram, 20 December 2022.

27 Editors’ interview with Professor Nishihara Masashi, 16 December 2022.

28 Editors’ interview with Satoh Yukio, 14 December 2022.

29 Nishihara Masashi, ‘Heiwa Anzenhoshō Kenkyūjo no Ayumi: Sōritsu Yonjūsan Nen o Furikaete’ [The History of RIPS: Reflecting 43 Years Since the Establishment], RIPS, October 2021, p. 1, https://www.rips.or.jp/jp/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/bd7ca8c2c35528d30d7642b89f7789bf.pdf.

30 Ibid., p. 1.

31 Ibid., p. 8.

32 Ibid., pp. 8–9.

33 RIPS, Azia no Anzenhoshō [Annual Report, Asian Security], https://www.rips.or.jp/en/publication/asian-security/.

34 IISS, ‘Newsletter’, July/August 1984, accessed in IISS Library Archives.

35 Editors’ interview with Satoh Yukio, 14 December 2022.

36 Editors’ interview with Dr Robert O’Neill, 23 November 2022.

37 Ibid.

38 Ibid.

39 Ibid.

40 Nakasone Yasuhiro, ‘The 1984 Alastair Buchan Memorial Lecture’, Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, vol. 26, no. 5, 1984, pp. 194–99.

41 Ibid.

42 Editors’ interview with Dr Robert O’Neill, 23 November 2022.

43 Editors’ interview with Satoh Yukio, 14 December 2022.

44 Ibid.

45 Ibid. For Kuranari’s speech, see Kuranari Tadashi, ‘Japanese Security Policy’, Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, vol. 29, no. 1, 1987, pp. 84–6.

46 Editors’ interview with Christoph Bertram, 20 December 2022.

47 Editors’ interview with Dr Robert O’Neill, 23 November 2022.

48 Editors’ interview with Professor Nishihara Masashi, 16 December 2022.

49 IISS, ‘IISS Annual Report and Accounts: Notice of AGM’, 10 July 1990, p. 4, accessed in IISS Library Archives.

50 IISS, ‘Japan Committee of the IISS’, 21 October 1988, accessed in IISS Library Archives; and personal communication from Professor Nishihara Masashi, August 2023.

51 Editors’ interview with Professor Nishihara Masashi, 16 December 2022.

52 See Kuranari, ‘Japanese Security Policy’; Satoh Yukio, ‘The Changing Security Circumstances in the 1980s’, in Satoh Yukio, The Evolution of Japanese Security Policy, Adelphi Papers, vol. 22, issue 178 (London: IISS, 1982); Tokinoya Atsushi, The Japan– US alliance: A Japanese Perspective, Adelphi Papers, vol. 26, issue 212 (London: IISS, 1986); and Kosaka, ‘East Asia, the Pacific and the West: Strategic Trends and Implications: Part II’.

53 See Nakasone, ‘The 1984 Alastair Buchan Memorial Lecture’; Henry Kissinger, ‘East Asia, the Pacific and the West: Strategic Trends and Implications: Part I’, in East Asia, the West and International Security: Prospects for Peace: Part I Papers from the IISS 28th Annual Conference; Sato Seizaburo, ‘Convergence and Divergence in East Asian and Western Security Interests: Part I’, in East Asia, the West and International Security: Prospects for Peace: Part I Papers from the IISS 28th Annual Conference; and Okawara Yoshio, ‘Prospects for Security Co-operation Between East Asia and the West’, in East Asia, the West and International Security: Prospects for Peace: Part III Papers from the IISS 28th Annual Conference.

54 IISS, ‘Annual Report and Accounts: Notice of AGM’, 13 July 1989, p. 4, accessed in IISS Library Archives.

55 IISS, ‘Annual Report and Accounts: Notice of AGM’, 16 July 1991, p. 4, accessed in IISS Library Archives.

56 Ibid., p. 8.

57 IISS, ‘Annual Report and Accounts: Notice of AGM’, 20 July 1993, p. 4, accessed in IISS Library Archives.

58 IISS, ‘Annual Report and Accounts: Notice of AGM’, 16 July 1991, p. 4.

59 IISS, ‘Annual Report and Accounts: Notice of AGM’, 20 July 1993, p. 7.

60 Ibid., p. 11.

61 Sasae Kenichiro, Rethinking Japan–US relations, Adelphi Papers, vol. 34, issue 292 (London: Brassey’s for the IISS, 1994).

62 Editors’ interview with Ambassador Sasae Kenichiro, 16 December 2022.

63 IISS, ‘20th Asia Security Summit: The Shangri-La Dialogue: Seventh Plenary Session – Q&A’, 4 June 2023, https://www.iiss.org/events/shangri-la-dialogue/shangri-la-dialogue-2023/.

64 Editors’ interview with Sir John Chipman KCMG, 26 September 2022.

65 Editors’ interview with Ambassador Fujisaki Ichiro, 13 December 2022.

66 IISS, ‘Annual Report and Accounts 2001/2002’, 17 July 2003, p. 8, accessed in IISS Library Archives.

67 Sir John Chipman KCMG, ‘20th Asia Security Summit: The Shangri-La Dialogue: Opening Remarks’, 2 June 2023, https://www.iiss.org/events/shangri-la-dialogue/shangri-la-dialogue-2023/.

68 The SLD was not held in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

69 IISS, ‘20th Asia Security Summit: The Shangri-La Dialogue: Seventh Plenary Session – Q&A’.

70 Editors’ interview with Satoh Yukio, 14 December 2022.

71 Editors’ interview with Ambassador Sasae Kenichiro, 16 December 2022.

72 Kishida Fumio, ‘The 19th Regional Security Summit – the Shangri-La Dialogue: Keynote Address’, 10 June 2022, https://www.mofa.go.jp/files/100356160.pdf.

73 IISS, ‘A Decade of the IISS Manama Dialogue: Premier Regional Security Summit in the Gulf’, 4 December 2014, https://issuu.com/iiss-publications/docs/a-decade-of-the-iiss-manama-dialogu/40.

74 Government of Japan, Ministry of Defense, ‘Achieving the “Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)” Vision: Japan Ministry of Defense’s Appraoch’, https://www.mod.go.jp/en/d_act/exc/india_pacific/india_pacific-en.html.

75 Funabashi Yoichi, ‘We Are All Small Countries Now’: IISS 2019 Alastair Buchan Memorial Lecture, 13 November 2019, https://www.iiss.org/events/2019/11/iiss-annual-dinner-2019-yoichi-funabashi/.

76 IISS, ‘The IISS Launches New Japan Chair Programme’, 29 November 2019, https://www.iiss.org/press/2019/the-iiss-launches-new-japan-chair-programme.

77 Government of Japan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ‘Foreign Minister Kono Attends Dinner Reception to Mark the Launch of IISS Japan Chair’, 5 June 2019, https://www.mofa.go.jp/press/release/press4e_002467.html.

78 The IISS Research Fellow for Japanese Security and Defence Policy was a two-year fixed-term position established by generous funding from Matsumoto Yasukane, Founder, Representative Director and Chairman of Raksul INC and Samata Anri, General Partner at ANRI through the Asia Pacific Initiative (API) in Japan.

79 IISS, ‘The International Institute for Strategic Studies Announces New IISS Japan Chair’, 5 March 2019, https://www.iiss.org/press/2019/iiss-japan-chair/.