Transformations in Japanese Foreign Policy toward the Middle East: From Low to More Active Political Engagement
Transformations in Japanese Foreign Policy toward the Middle East: From Low to More Active Political Engagement

Summary/Abstract: This study examines various internal and external factors influencing Japanese attitudes towards the Middle East, with particular emphasis on its change from the low political profile during the Cold War era to the participation in the post Gulf War, and eventually to the engagement in the post 9/11 era. This is done through employing merits of structural realism that allow analyzing factors influencing foreign policy at three levels: interaction, national, and structural. The study concluded that in addition to the various domestic and external factors such as the anti-military constitution internally, and the structure of international system externally, the basic components that have con¬stantly played a major role in Japan’s foreign policy towards the Middle East during the Cold War (low political profile) and after the Cold War (a higher political involvement), were the oil factor and the American factor. Both are interrelated and presented at various levels of analysis. As such Japan will pursue her policy toward the region within two-line framework: complete coordination with the US, and independent efforts to show her own contribution to the stability and peace in the region.

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