Normalizing Japan seeks to answer the question of what future direction Japan's military policies are likely to take, by considering how policy has evolved since World War II, and what factors shaped this evolution. It argues that Japanese security policy has not changed as much in recent years as many believe, and that future change also will be highly constrained by Japan's long-standing "security identity," the central principle guiding Japanese policy over the past half-century. Oros' analysis is based on detailed exploration of three cases of policy evolution-restrictions on arms exports, the military use of outer space, and cooperation with the United States on missile defense-which shed light on other cases of policy change, such as Japan's deployment of its military to Iraq and elsewhere and its recent creation of a Ministry of Defense. More broadly, the book refines how "ideational" factors interact with domestic politics and international changes to create policy change.
"A well-crafted and innovative study of contested national identity. Oros shows how Japan's security identity, despite significant material changes in the domestic and international environment, remains rooted in domestic anti-militarism. He offers empirical benchmarks to suggest that so far Japan is normalizing but not nationalizing or permanently pacifying."
George Washington University
"Andrew Oros' contribution to constructivist literature through his challenging of realist theories of international relations and rationalist understandings of domestic politics combine to make Normalizing Japan an important addition to international relations and comparative politics scholarship . . . In sum, the value of this book is twofold. The first lies in its empirical richness and descrip
