The Maritime Self-Defence Force Mission in the Indian Ocean: Afghanistan, NATO and Japan's Political Impasse

by Richard Tanter For the second time in little over a year the question of whether to extend Japan's commitment to the American-led war in Afghanistan has determined the fate of the Japanese cabinet. A year after Prime Minister Abe Shinzo's failure to pass legislation extending the Maritime Self Defence Force's mid-ocean refuelling operations in the Indian Ocean led to his resignation, his successor, Fukuda Yasuo, assailed by plunging personal unpopularity, rising public opposition to the Maritime Self-Defence Force (MSDF) deployment, ongoing scandals in the Defense Ministry, a wavering coalition partner, and by pressures to deepen Japan's commitment to the war in Afghanistan from both his own nationalist party rivals and by the United States, has resigned. This latest episode of Japan's ongoing political crisis has its roots in both the unresolved structural blockages of Japanese politics, with their accompanying democratic deficits, and the contradictions of Japan's position within the United States alliance system at a time of war. The resulting conjuncture pulls in opposite directions: at a time when the existing MSDF deployment is under political strain, the government has sought to deepen the commitment to the war in Afghanistan, expand the MSDF mission to protection of sealanes to the Middle East, and link Japan into a global military partnership with NATO.  Richard Tanter is Senior Research Associate at Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability, Director of the Nautilus Institute at RMIT and a Japan Focus associate.  He wrote this article for Japan Focus. Posted on September 2, 2008. Read more...