National Security Strategy of Japan

In order to understand Japans security strategy firstly we need to know the national interest of Japan. The national interest of Japan is to defend its sovereignty, its territorial integrity, the life of its citizens and preserve its culture with its belief in democracy, respect of human rights and rule of law. In order to achieve these, it needs to Work towards the development of its economy that believes in free trade and make it compatible with the international environment for stability, transparency and predictable. There are some objectives that need to be in place to safeguard its national interests. firstly it should strengthen its deterrence and protect its territory from any threat that can reach in and should be able to minimise the damage with quick response. It should also strengthen the Japan-US alliance to make its region more secure and build relationships with other states by cooperation to defend itself from a rogue nation like North Korea. It is foremost important for any state to assess it's surrounding and security environment to be able to effectively implement policies to safeguard its national interest in the process of constructing a security strategy. From the starting of the 21st century the world politics has been shifting from Atlantic to Pacific as the US is still the biggest power has transformed its national interest and economic policies towards the eastern part of the world have changed the balance of power with emerging countries like China which has affected the global governance. In addition, where globalisation has improved our life and technological advancements made everything easy for us has come at a cost by making it easy also for the non-state actors spreading terrorism, ideology and MNC's capturing the local businesses and affecting people’s lives in different ways etc all of these somehow threatens Japan's security directly or indirectly. The issue of improvement of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear, biological and chemical weapons acquired by rogue states like North Korea and Iran Is a serious threat not just for Japan but for the whole international community. Moreover, international terrorist attacks are on rising and globalisation has made easy for the non-state actors to transfer information within its organisations that are used to spread their extremist ideology and conspire against any state and achieve its political or ideological objectives. There are issues related to global common spaces which need to be addressed soon before it gets worse. By this, I am referring to sea, outer space and cyberspace. Sea is governed by international law which many states are trying to capture to fulfil its national interest requirements through coercion unilaterally. Sea is the most viable way of connecting states for trade and other activities. In this regard, it is important to keep the sea routes open and stable for the prosperity of the international community and tackle the issues of piracy, human smuggling, illegal dumping. There are a number of cases where the states have been in conflict of interest over resources which could escalate to unexpected consequences for example in the South China Sea there are disputes between China and coastal states over sovereignty which is a major concern for the maintenance of law at sea plus the sea route between Japan and the Middle East is also an important issue for Japan because of escalating terrorism and piracy in between regions as Japan is dependent for resources over middle east and having secure and stable sea route is a prerogative. The outer space is used for civil and military purposes which increase its capabilities. There is an increase in activities in the outer space by states for security and information purposes which means more satellite testing and increased space debris that could lead to vital consequences in future. Human security is another major challenge that has come due to globalisation and population growth in developing countries. Challenges like poverty, inequality, infectious diseases, climate change, food security and humanitarian crisis caused by civil wars and natural disaster are threatening the survival of individuals. These challenges are being tackled by the United Nations sustainable development programme which gave target to all its member countries for implementing policies and achieving the target by 2030. These are the global security challenges that need to be focused on for Japan to achieve national security objectives internationally.

            Now I will discuss the challenges faced by Japan in the Asia-Pacific region. After the shift in the balance of power from Atlantic to Pacific has elevated the importance of the region in terms of security and peace. The northeast countries in this region have the huge military capacity with possession of weapons of mass destruction but there is no security framework properly structured or institutionalised despite having dialogues on it through a regional forum ASEAN which allows bilateral and multilateral dialogues between the states of Asia-Pacific region. For instance the case of North Korea and China. North Korea and the Republic of Korea have many times confronted in the Korean Peninsula. North Korea despite unstable and weak economy with human rights violations constantly allocate its resources on military affairs. It has also improved and enhanced its capabilities of weapons of mass destruction and has developed ballistic missiles that can reach till the US. North Korea has allegations of transferring and selling nuclear weapons and missiles to warheads which poses a grave threat to the international community. North Korea has certain times used provocative rhetoric stating Japan during a confrontation in the Korean Peninsula escalating threat towards Japan. On the other hand, China has been seen expanding activities in the sea and airspace around Japan and often violate its air space. China has also increased its military budget and capabilities which adds on to security dilemma because of not being transparent enough. It has been an issue of concern for the entire international community with Japan as a neighbour. These are the challenges that Japan will keep into consideration while structuring its national security strategy and policies. In order to tackle these issues, Japan needs to strengthen its diplomatic ties for creating a stable international order, enhance its defence, economic, intelligence and technological capabilities, build a defence architecture and ensure maritime and cybersecurity. Plus use the outer space efficiently for security and gathering information. Through diplomacy and dialogue, Japan should be able to create a stable and predictable environment and be aware of the international order. Japan has the ability to set the international agenda through proactively engage with global government and advance its national interest. Today in ever-growing severe security environment around Japan, it needs to develop defence forces that can overcome any threat that might reach its territory. Japan should work within its local government and build strong institutions that could take quick and effective action against any threat whether it is a military or natural disaster. Moreover, Japan will keep strengthening its law enforcement agencies to keep a check of Japans surrounding and ensure proper implementation of rules and guidelines for securing its territory. Japan being a maritime state should make sure to keep the sea routes smooth and enhance its patrolling capabilities for maintaining international law and order as it is vital for Japan because it is dependent on these sea routes for trade, resources and energy from different countries so it is necessary to develop and maintain open and stable sea routes. Japan should strengthen and secure its nuclear facilities inside Japan from any terrorist activity and should ensure the safety of its nationals around the world working in private sectors having critical information and should be able to use it in assessing and countering terrorism. Japan will further strengthen its intelligence-collecting capabilities from sources like human intelligence, open source intelligence, signal intelligence and imagery intelligence. This will help the national security council to structure and implement policies effectively and efficiently. The use of outer space is necessary for gathering information, telecommunications, navigation and other security purposes. Japan would ensure the stability of the outer space and strengthen its satellite capabilities for the overall development of its defence system that is crucial for national security. Japan has put a lot of research and development initiatives towards enhancing its technological capabilities which have evolved its economy and japans energy saving technology and sustainable development contributing to issues of climate change has attracted the world to seek and learn from Japan which it will utilise for diplomacy in the international community.

               Strengthening Japan's relationship with its partners and the international community is prerequisite for the development of Japan in terms of economics and national interests as well. As of now with the growing risk of threat and attack surrounding Japan's environment is necessary to strengthen its diplomatic ties and alliances. In this context, the Japan-US alliance is the most alliance bilaterally because the Japan-US alliance has played a vital role in terms of security and maintaining peace and harmony in the Asia-Pacific region. This alliance was the foundation for other alliances in this region for the US in shifting the balance of power. The Japan-US alliance has evolved stronger with their mutual beliefs in the universal values like freedom, democracy, respect for human rights and rule of law. The two countries have been working on the issues of Asia-Pacific region excluding situation of North Korea, security issues, counterterrorism and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The alliance also has solid economic ties which aim to achieve economic prosperity with rule-based trade and transparency through the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Japan must elevate and strengthen its relationship with the US to maintain peace, stability and prosperity not just for Japan but for the entire region and international community. Japan has been consistently promoted economic and strategic partnership with countries(Asia-Pacific) like China, India, Republic of Korea, Australia and other ASEAN countries plus outside the Asia-Pacific it has established a bilateral relationship with a mixed league of countries from Europe to the Middle East to Africa all of these relationships are rooted in the interest of Japan and its survival with a tag of security to certain extent.

               Japan does engage proactively with international organisations and states in peacekeeping missions, international disputes through dialogue and diplomacy and help developing countries in building their economy which contributes to strengthening the international community and order, making it more peaceful and secure. Japan a non-permanent member of the United Nation Security Council will proactively contribute to the maintenance of peace and stability in the international arena by participating in various efforts by the UN like Peace Keeping Operation (PKO), collective security measures, help in humanitarian relief missions and post-conflict peace building missions. Japan has always promoted itself as the guardian of the rule of law. It has also actively participated in the rule making stage and supported international judicial organs. Japan is a major player in the expansion of open and rule-based international economic system which essential for the world economic system. Japan has an economic partnership on the Asia-Pacific region through trade agreement like FTA- Free Trade Agreement, with Japan, China and the Republic of Korea, and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. These agreements will further help in the economic prosperity of the region and eventually contribute to the stable security environment.

-Sunny Salahuddin