Limits to Power: Asymmetric Dependence and Japanese Foreign Aid Policy

by Akitoshi Miyashita

Overview

Why does the Japanese government often alter its course of action under pressure from the United States, even when doing so apparently undermines Japan's own interests? Japan's marked responsiveness to U.S. preferences regarding foreign aid policy appears counterintuitive, since Japan's demonstrated capability to donate funds rivals and has previously surpassed that of the U.S. In Limits to Power, Akitoshi Miyashita posits that Japan's deference to the will of the U.S. results from Japan's continuing role as the more dependent partner in the two countries' interdependent diplomatic and economic relationship.

Miyashita critically reviews the existing literature on Japanese foreign aid, then tests his own argument against five case studies. After analyzing critical junctures in Japan's history of foreign aid to China, Vietnam, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, he concludes that Japan's consistent sway under U.S. opinion reflects an act of will on Japan's part, rather than a lack of coherent policy stemming from bureaucratic politics. Limits to Power boldly challenges current arguments that Japan has successfully distanced itself from "reactive" politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739106020
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/29/2003
Series:	Studies of Modern Japan
Pages:	242
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

Akitoshi Miyashita is Associate Professor of International Relations at Tokyo International University. He is co-editor of Japanese Foreign Policy in Asia and the Pacific: Domestic Interests, American Pressure, and Regional Integration (2001).

Table of Contents

Part 1 Puzzle, Theory, and Methodology
Chapter 2 Introduction
Chapter 3 American Pressure and Japanese Foreign Aid
Chapter 4 Gaiatsu and Preferences
Part 5 Cases
Chapter 6 China: The Tiananmen Square Incident and the Resumption of Yen Loans
Chapter 7 Vietnam: Lifting Bilateral and Multilateral Aid Sanctions
Chapter 8 Russia: The Retreat from the Linkage Strategy
Chapter 9 Iran: The Controversy over the Hydroelectric Power Plant Project
Chapter 10 North Korea: The KEDO and the Politics of Burden-Sharing
Part 11 Conclusions and Implications
Chapter 12 Structural Constraints of Japanese Power
Chapter 13 Rethinking the Reactive-Proactive Debate

What People are Saying About This

T.J. Pempel

Miyashita challenges a number of preexisting conclusions about Japanese aid policy and he provides an excellent case in support of alternative explanations. In doing so, he adds considerably to our understanding of Japanese politics and Japanese foreign policy.

Akio Watanabe

Miyashita operates in a realist world and sets the research question in the broader context of Japan's rise in the interstate hierarchy over the past few decades. He reminds us that Japan has not truly escaped its asymmetric dependence on the United States. The analytic precision that is brought to bear allows this study to eclipse other work in this area.

Gerald Curtis

Through a series of vivid case studies of Japanese foreign aid policy, Miyashita shows how the primacy of Japan's American connection often drives Japanese policy in directions the Japanese government, other things being equal, would prefer not to go. Miyashita's well-argued point is that other things are not equal and that it is Japan's asymmetric dependence on the United States that makes it a soft target for gaiatsu, the effective application of American pressure on Japan's foreign aid policy. Miyashita has written an interesting and important book.

Editorial Reviews

Miyashita operates in a realist world and sets the research question in the broader context of Japan's rise in the interstate hierarchy over the past few decades. He reminds us that Japan has not truly escaped its asymmetric dependence on the United States. The analytic precision that is brought to bear allows this study to eclipse other work in this area.

Akio Watanabe

Miyashita challenges a number of preexisting conclusions about Japanese aid policy and he provides an excellent case in support of alternative explanations. In doing so, he adds considerably to our understanding of Japanese politics and Japanese foreignpolicy.

T. J. Pempel

This is a very useful addition to the literature on Japanese foreign aid policy. The book, well-written and forcefully argued, takes us beyond the more traditional way of looking at Japanese foreign aid.. ..At the same time, it is not a book just about foreign aid; it also addresses why Japan is sensitive to American pressure.

Pacific Affairs

Through a series of vivid case studies of Japanese foreign aid policy, Miyashita shows how the primacy of Japan's American connection often drives Japanese policy in directions the Japanese government, other things being equal, would prefer not to go. Miyashita's well-argued point is that other things are not equal and that it is Japan's asymmetric dependence on the United States that makes it a soft target for gaiatsu, the effective application of American pressure on Japan's foreign aid policy. Miyashita has written an interesting and important book.

Gerald Curtis

Miyashita operates in a realist world and sets the research question in the broader context of Japan's rise in the interstate hierarchy over the past few decades. He reminds us that Japan has not truly escaped its asymmetric dependence on the United States. The analytic precision that is brought to bear allows this study to eclipse other work in this area.--Akio Watanabe, University of Tokyo (Emeritus)

Through a series of vivid case studies of Japanese foreign aid policy, Miyashita shows how the primacy of Japan's American connection often drives Japanese policy in directions the Japanese government, other things being equal, would prefer not to go. Miyashita's well-argued point is that other things are not equal and that it is Japan's asymmetric dependence on the United States that makes it a soft target for gaiatsu, the effective application of American pressure on Japan's foreign aid policy. Miyashita has written an interesting and important book.--Gerald Curtis, Professor of Political Science, Columbia University

This is a very useful addition to the literature on Japanese foreign aid policy. The book, well-written and forcefully argued, takes us beyond the more traditional way of looking at Japanese foreign aid. . ..At the same time, it is not a book just about foreign aid; it also addresses why Japan is sensitive to American pressure.--Pacific Affairs

From the Publisher