Japan's roles in U.S. national security strategy: strategic ally and economic adversary

Abstract

This thesis examines the conflict between contradictory but coexisting American views of Japan's roles in U.S. national security strategy: strategic ally and economic adversary. Its central hypothesis is that postwar American policy toward Japan has, of necessity, placed strategic imperatives over economic interests but that a continuation of such an approach in the emerging post-Cold War environment both harms U.S. interests and risks a breakdown in U.S.-Japanese relations. The thesis assesses the rationales for a continued strategic emphasis in the relationship and alternative economic emphasis. It concludes with a set of policy recommendations aimed at shifting the relative emphasis placed on the two sets of interests by maintaing but downgrading the strategic relationship, including the security alliance, while increasing the priority given to U.S. economic and competitiveness interests. The ultimate goal is to establish a more stable and enduring U.S. -Japan relationship based on a new set of common interests.