EEE会議（Re: 日米同盟の行方：　一方的な関係）...........................................................2003.9.7


先般来北朝鮮問題や日本核武装論に関連して、「同盟関係の終焉」とか「日米同盟の
行方」と題する海外識者の論説をいくつかご紹介して参りましたが、昨日付けの
Japan Timesに次のような注目すべき論文が載っておりましたので、ご紹介します
（但し、抜粋）。　これは、"A Tale of Two Cities: Rising Concern in Japan
About the Benefits of Alliance"  という表題で Pacnet Newsletter　の９月４日
号にも掲載されています。ご参考まで。
なお、この論文の全文は次のサイトでどうぞ。　
http://www.japantimes.com/cgi-bin/geted.pl5?eo20030902bg.htm
--KK

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One-sided bilateral relations

By BRAD GLOSSERMAN

TOKYO -- The conventional wisdom on the other side of the Pacific
is that U.S.-Japan relations are the best they've ever been. The view
is very different in Japan. Here, an increasing number of voices
argue that the benefits of the relationship only flow one way. On a
recent visit, I was continually challenged to explain just what Japan
was getting out of these "historically good relations." The questions
underlined the unease that influences and threatens to dominate
Japanese security thinking.

In Washington's eyes, the U.S.-Japan relationship just keeps
improving. Some credit the "George-Jun" friendship shared by the
pre sident and the prime minister; longtime alliance watchers say it
has eclipsed the "Ron-Yasu" era of the 1980s, the previous high-
water mark. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi deserves credit for
seizing the opportunities that followed Sept. 11, and taking the
initiative in ways that no other Japanese prime minister had. Others
note the groundwork laid by alliance supporters on both sides of the
Pacific who vowed ties would never again be as strained as they
were in the early 1990s. No matter what the cause, the result is the
best relations ever and, according to one administration official,
Tokyo's "unprecedented influence" in Washington.

Yet for all the applause and optimism in the United States, there is
considerable unease in Japan. This nervousness takes several
forms. [...]

There are still reasons to be worried, however. Tokyo's belief that it
has to back the U.S in Iraq to make sure it gets a hearing when it
comes to North Korea reveals a disturbing lack of confidence in the
alliance. That insecurity may be unfounded, but the problem is the
perception -- not reality -- and it is unclear what will ease the fear of
abandonment.

A solution will be especially hard to find if, as I suspect, the fear is
rooted in the notion that Japan is not a truly independent actor when
it comes to foreign policy.

This sense of helplessness is generating a backlash. Masatoshi
Honda, an associate professor at Musashino Women's University,
argues that the lack of a sense of identity is fostering "political
nationalism." More and more Japanese feel that they need to be
more assertive, especially when it comes to dealing with the U.S.

The result is the politicization of the security alliance with the U.S.
Even though Japan needs a debate on national security, the focus
of that debate should be the external security environment and the
best way to protect the country in those circumstances. Discussion
of the security alliance should follow a broader assessment of
national security needs. But the insecurity and helplessness that
bubbles up threatens to reverse that process and put the alliance
with the U.S. at center stage. This has already happened during the
debate over the proposed SDF deployment to Iraq. [...]

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