Japan's quest for a permanent seat on the Security Council

In an age of declining American power, more Japanese are now understanding the need for multilateral diplomacy, according to Professor Reinhard Drifte, Chair of Japanese Studies in the Department of Politics at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. In this analysis of Japan's quest for a permanent Security Council seat, Drifte argues that Japan has to move beyond making simply monetary and procedural contributions to the United Nations, to a position of being ready to offer substantive policy input. For this to happen, he says the whole Japanese policy culture has to change.