Thinking strategically: Japan after the Cold War

How should the Japanese think about their security now the cold War is over? What if the US pulled out of East Asia? Robyn Lim, professor of international relations at Hiroshima Shudo University, suggests that Japan badly needs a mature debate about strategic issues. It would be a dangerous delusion, she says, to think that Japan could use its economic strength to achieve strategic security. Without the protection that alliances provide, the world can be a cruel place in which security can deteriorate overnight. Delusions held by both left and right in Japan risk fostering the belief in the US that the Japanese people are incapable of accepting any responsibility for themselves, and so are not worth defending.