League Double In The Post-cold War Us-japan Alliance

Eliciting from the fact, this thesis expounds the duality of alliance, which could be endowed with both defensive and offensive nature. Such dual nature might undergo change or development in various historical eras and consequently lead an alliance to be more defense-oriented or offense-oriented in general terms. A large number of alliances in reality possess such duality and the US-Japan alliance is no exception. Established to check and resist the expansion of Soviet Union camp during the Cold War time, the US-Japan alliance also functioned to restrain Japan's revitalization of its armament. From the perspective of western world, it is to some extent reasonable that the US-Japan alliance has existed. However, through a serial of adjustments by name of mutual defense in the post Cold War era, this alliance has brought along more potential offensive character.The security environment of East Asia has been complicated and uncertain, meanwhile, the US and Japan share mutual strategic need at both the regional and global level. Therefore, within a fairly long period henceforward, the US-Japan alliance will still hold the internal and external base to be maintained, consolidated and even continuously strengthened. Deduced From this logic, this alliance will not largely reverse the direction featured with close cooperation and reinforced coordination in a certain future time, despite there used to be sign of estrangement within the alliance after the Democratic Party of Japan(DPJ) came into power in 2009.The possibility of the US-Japan alliance being more defense-oriented or offense-oriented henceforth will be related to the security interaction between China as a regional power and the alliance. Apart from the attempted check and deterrence against China by the US-Japan alliance, it could also be shaped by China's domestic and foreign policies as well as its actual performance. Therefore, it is reasonable to analyze the underlying factors reinforcing the US-Japan alliance and to explore Japan's historical trajectory and domestic political dynamics as to DPJ's attempt at its early stage of governance to seek a more symmetric alliance with higher independence. Such research will favor China to investigate and estimate the security interests and threat perception of the US and Japan as two major actors, to exert a more positive effect in shaping the security perception of them and in building strategic mutual trust, then to maintain the peace and stability in East Asia.