I. B. Tauris & Company Japan and the War on Terror: Military Force and Political Pressure in the US-Japanese Alliance (International Library of Security Studies): 73 (Library of International Relations)

The role of the Far East is becoming increasingly important in global geopolitics. Japan s economic might and sphere of geographical influence, between China, North Korea and the US, means it has the potential to be a major ally in the war on terror. While Japan s constitution does not allow for militarism or acts of war, in the post 9/11 world the use of the Japanese nation s Self-Defence Force has become increasingly normal a result of the exploitation of legal loopholes and political double-speak that has been used to bypass Japan s pacifist ideology. Here, Michael Penn assesses the role of US diplomats and lobbyists in Tokyo, the politicians who see the war on terror as a means of self-advancement and the influence of Washington in the unprecedented deployment of Japanese troops in Iraq. Written using a huge range of primary source material, including interviews with US insiders and Japanese policy makers, this is a scholarly and lucid account of Japan s relationship to the US and the Middle East from 9/11 to Barack Obama and the death of Osama Bin Laden.