[talk] What Does the Iraq War Mean for Japan?

Yasuhisa Shiozaki: House of Representatives member

Born 1950. B.A. from Tokyo University, Department of Liberal Arts. Master Degree from Graduate Program in Public Administration, Harvard University. Bank of Japan 1975- 1993. Elected to House of Representatives in 1993 from former Ehime Constituency, 1st District. Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Finance, Chairman of the Legal Committee of Liberal Democratic Party(LDP); Chairman of the Diplomacy Committee, LDP. Authored: "Found Japanese SEC" "Second Phase in Money Riot-Rebuild Assets Market" and more .

Keizo Takemi: House of Councilors member

Takemi is also an Executive Member of Committee on Health, Welfare and Labor, a Member of Committee on Budget and an Executive Member of Research Commission on the Constitution. He was State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Defense (1998-1999) . He graduated from Graduate School of Law of Keio University in 1980 and received his MD from Keio University in 1976. Now he is a Professor of Institute of Strategic Peace and International Affairs, Tokai University.

Yoshimasa Hayashi: House of Representatives member

Yoshimasa Hayashi was born in 1961 and graduated from the Law Faculty of Tokyo University in 1984. After working for Mitsui & Co., Ltd, he completed graduate studies in Harvard University. He was elected as a member of the Diet for the first time in 1995. He Worked for the Mansfield Bill in 1991, during his stay in the capital hill. He is now Secretary General of the Administrative Reform head quarter of the Liberal Democratic Party.

What was the cause of the War in Iraq? Three politicians of the ruling parties tried to solve this question by starting with the discussion of how to grasp this issue amid the current of substantial change in national security in the post–Cold War era and the concept of “threat”. Mr. Hayashi presented his perception of the war as being the first case in which the police took preemptive measures for punishing would-be criminals. Mr. Takemi stated that the world has been facing the emergence of various new types of menaces crossing national borders besides military powers since the end of the 1990s. He regarded the Iraqi War as the first challenge for the international community to deal with the issue of weapons of mass destruction. Then, Mr. Shiozaki considered the situation an opportunity for the world to come up with ways to handle the lack of governance in collapsed nations.

All three believed in the importance of the United Nations as a main body to acknowledge and police such nations, and that now is a good time for Japan to enunciate its views. “Deterrence” and “dialogue” are the main points of argument regarding the situation in North Korea. They concluded that the establishment of “deterrence” as a prerequisite for “dialogue” is a crucial issue for Japan. They contented that although an idea of independent policy is gaining support in Japan, on the basis of deterrence laid the acknowledgment of the notion that “an attack on Japan would invite U.S. retaliation”. Based on such sobering reality, Japan should formulate a blueprint of foreign policies concerning “dialogue”. According to Mr. Shiozaki, Japan needs politically initiated foreign strategies and establishment of a nation which is truly open to, for example, human resources. Mr. Takemi mentioned the following points: the pursuit of a balance of power in line with the geo-political situations of Japan, an indispensable reinforcement of regional economy in East Asia, and the necessity of multi-layered measures for the issues of the international community in the era of globalization. Speaking about models for national policies, Mr. Hayashi insisted that Japan should seek a “British style” in terms of national security and efforts should be made to realize the establishment of a common currency in pursuit of the “German style” in Asia. He also advocated a “Japanese Version of the Plaza Agreement”. In order to carry out such policies, much effort should go into the creation of highly technical diplomatic power, intellectual creativity and strategies. The discussion touched upon the Yasukuni Shrine issue and agricultural problems before the session ended, but importance was given to establishing various channels of dialogue with Asian countries involving politicians and NGOs. Three politicians equally stressed the necessity of realistically moving and the enforcement of the movement towards that goal.