Bilateral Perspectives on Regional Security: Australia, Japan and the Asia-Pacific Region(Critical Studies of the Asia-Pacific)

Intensifying Australia-Japan bilateral security relations reflect an important trend in alliance politics. Smaller and middle power allies are cooperating with each other more directly on key strategic issues. Five years after the signing of the Australia- Japan Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation, these two US allies are collaborating on a wide array of traditional and non-traditional security issues, bilaterally, regionally and globally. This is an important trend in contemporary Asian geopolitics as historical power shifts in this region unfold. The authors assess the key factors underlying such cooperation and the policy challenges that could impede it. Australian and Japanese experts offer critical insights into why their two countries - traditionally the two key 'spokes' in the US bilateral alliance network spanning Asia - are moving towards a distinct security relationship in their own right.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; W.T.Tow & R.Kersten PART I: THE INTERPLAY OF DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN POLICY FACTORS Australian Foreign Policy Towards Japan: Weighing the Bureaucratic Process; D.Walton The Koizumi-Abe Revolution in Japanese Security Policy: Normative Transformation and Democratic Maturity; R.Kersten Japanese Domestic Politics and Security Cooperation with Australia: The Limits of 'Normalisation'; T.Anno Japan's Misfiring Security Hedge: Discovering the Limits of Middle-power Internationalism and Strategic Convergence; H.D.P.Envall & K.Fujiwara PART II: THE DYNAMICS OF BILATERAL SECURITY COOPERATION Regional Security Politics in East Asia: What Can Japan and Australia Usefully Do Together?; K.Togo Japan-Australia Security Relations: A Tale of Timing; M.Cook Japan-Australia Security Relations: Building a Real Strategic Partnership?; T.S.Wilkins Japan-Australia Joint Security Statements and the Trilateral Strategic Dialogue: A Japanese Perspective; E.Katahara PART III: REGIONAL AND GLOBAL RAMIFICATIONS OF INTENSIFIED BILATERALISM The Broader Context: how Australia-Japan Relations 'Fit' into Regional and Global Security Dynamics; W.T.Tow Comparing Japanese, Australian and European Responses to 'Out-of-area' Security Challenges; W.M.Vosse Japan, Australia and International Security Burden-sharing with the United States; T.Satake Building a Foundation for Regional Security Architecture in the Asia-Pacific: Human Resource Development for Peacebuilding; Y.Uesugi Security Arrangements in the Asia-Pacific: A Three-tier Approach; R.Sahashi

About the Author :
RIKKI KERSTEN is Professor of Modern Japanese Political History in the Department of Political and Social Change at the Australian National University, Australia. Her research interests include Japanese democracy, fascism and transwar political thought, and Japan's foreign and security policies. WILLIAM TOW is Professor of International Relations at the Australian National University, Australia. He specialises in Asia-Pacific security, alliance politics and regional security architecture. He is currently Head of the Department of International Relations, IPS at the ANU.