Hugo Dobson

Japanese postage stamps: propaganda and decision making

This article examines how the Japanese government and its people attempt to instrumentalize postage stamps as a tool of propaganda to promote their own political ends. Traditional explanations of the Japanese decision-making process have stressed the élitist nature of the decision-making process in the form of an iron triangle comprising the bureaucracy, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and big business ( zaikai ). While acknowledging the importance of these three poles, this article points to other sources of influence and highlights a number of ideological battles fought out on the face of a postage stamp, including daijin kitte (ministerial stamps) which have endorsed the home-towns or electoral districts of various ministers of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MOPT), and stamps reflecting Japans security milieu in the post-WWII period. The aim of the article is to demonstrate that the Japanese government and its people are sensitive to the images chosen to appear on the face of postage stamps and that a plurality of actors seeks to exert an influence on the decision-making process.

Japan and the Changing Global Balance of Power: The View from the Summit

This article explores Japans relative decline and its responses to the changing global balance of power through a case study of one symptom of this shift: the rise of the G20 as the ‘premier forum for international economic co-operation’ at the expense of the G8. The G8 has traditionally held a significant position in Japans international relations that appears to be undermined by the rise of the G20. Japans responses to these developments reveal it to be a status quo power that is still committed to internationalism and multilateralism and looking for a constituency to lead.

Japan and the G7/8 : 1975-2002

This book analyses Japans international relations and participation in the multilateral forum, the G8, since its creation in 1975. The author explores the motivation of the Japanese government and non-governmental actors aims and objectives and examines how and to what extent they have been achieved. Presenting a wealth of new research this theoretically informed book will be of interest to those studying interntional relations and Japanese politics.

Rethinking Japan's “lost decade”

1. The books addressed directly in this review article are representative but far from comprehensive. Interested readers can also consult Reinhard Drifte, Japan’s Foreign Policy for the Twenty-First Century: From Economic Superpower to What Power? (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1998); Bert Edström, Japan’s Evolving Foreign Policy Doctrine: From Yoshida to Miyazawa (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1999); Glenn D. Hook, Julie Gilson, Christopher W. Hughes and Hugo Dobson, Japan’s International Relations: Global Society, Vol. 19, No. 2, April, 2005

Is Japan Really Back? The “Abe Doctrine” and Global Governance

ABSTRACT Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has emerged as the “comeback kid” of Japanese politics and in his second term of office is now widely regarded as a rare example of strong leadership as he seeks to arrest and reverse his country’s perceived decline. The strategy to achieve these objectives has come to be known as the “Abe Doctrine,” which represents a radical but risky shift in foreign policy. This article outlines the tenets of the evolving Abe Doctrine and then applies them to the Abe administration’s behaviour in the mechanisms of global governance, a highly pertinent but overlooked example. It argues that although a more strategic and coherent approach to global governance has emerged under Abe than had been previously evident, this has been at the expense of the norm of internationalism that has traditionally shaped Japan’s role.

Where Are the Women in Global Governance? Leaders, Wives and Hegemonic Masculinity in the G8 and G20 Summits

Although various studies have explored womens representation and participation in the central mechanisms of global governance such as the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, no similar study exists in the case of the summit meetings of the Group of Eight and Group of Twenty countries. This article begins by identifying the participation of women within these formal and informal fora of global governance and concludes that both summits represent sites of hegemonic masculinity in terms of space, style and, to an extent, substance. It then extends its focus towards an exploration and evaluation of the occasions when women have played an apparently dominant role in these summit meetings: as spouses. Whilst acknowledging the impact of their participation in terms of agenda setting and policymaking, in addition to the ceremonial roles they play through the various social events and photo opportunities organised on the periphery of these summits, the article concludes that these activities serve ultimately to reinforce the elite nature of summitry, in addition to a gendered division of labour and a hegemonic form of masculinity therein.

Managing the Medusa: Japan–USA relations in GX summitry

Abstract This article explores the ways in which Japan manages its bilateral relationship with the USA. It contributes to the extant literature on Japan–USA bilateral relations by focusing particularly upon the management of this core bilateral relationship from a Japanese perspective and within two mechanisms of global governance, the G8 and G20 summits, collectively referred to as GX summitry. Specifically, the article highlights the various strategies and tactics instrumentalized by Japan in managing its bilateral relationship with the USA in this context, in addition to evaluating how successful they have been and contrasting them with the strategies adopted by the UK as another member of the G8 and G20 that maintains a ‘special relationship’ with the USA.

Regional approaches to peacekeeping activities: The case of the ASEAN regional forum

For as long as the UN has conducted peacekeeping operations there has been an accompanying debate over the suitable role for, and utility of, regional organizations in conducting and assisting in the practice of peacekeeping. Because of, and despite, both the paralysis of the Cold War and the extra security burdens of the post‐Cold War period, regional organizations have encountered difficulties and demonstrated strengths in realizing a peacekeeping role. This article begins by adumbrating these strengths and weaknesses and then focuses on the particular example of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and recent attempts since its first meeting in 1994 to promote itself in the role of peacekeeper in the Asia Pacific region. The article concludes that although the ARFs peacekeeping agenda is still embryonic and displays some of the weaknesses traditionally exhibited by regional organizations, a capacity for peacekeeping can be witnessed and cautious encouragement can be drawn from the record of its performance ...

The Cameron Government and Gx Leadership

Despite the plaudits and high expectations, David Cameron’s role as a leader and innovator in Gx summitry appears overhyped. Upon closer inspection, his contribution to global summitry has lacked originality, vision, and coherence. This article will bring aspects of UK policy into relief by means of a close reading of the report Governance for Growth: Building Consensus for the Future. It will then account for these failings by relating the conclusions of this specific case study to the government’s overall foreign policy. The article focuses on the role of David Cameron and the Conservative Party specifically because, on the one hand, Gx summitry is a process that stresses the role of individual leaders; while, on the other hand, the coalition’s foreign policy appears to be an area in which the Liberal Democrats have exerted little influence as coalition partners. ‘Same bed, different dreams’ may be the political reality but little has emerged to suggest that different dreams have impacted on outcomes.

The Afterlives of Post-War Japanese Prime Ministers

ABSTRACT Despite growing interest over the last 20 years in the position and power of the Japanese prime minister, what he does after resigning from this position has been overlooked in the extant literatures in both English and Japanese. This is unfortunate because, to paraphrase former US President Bill Clinton, as an ex-leader “you lose your power but not your influence.” This article represents the first attempt to explore what post-war Japanese prime ministers have done after stepping down and what influence they have continued to exert. It does so by providing an empirical overview of the afterlives of Japan’s 33 post-war ex-prime ministers before then discussing the benefits and shortcomings of applying the comparative, conceptual literature on the role of former leaders in Western democracies to the specific case of Japan. After providing the necessary justification, it then focuses on three detailed and illuminating case studies of Nakasone Yasuhiro, Murayama Tomiichi and Fukuda Yasuo. It argues that Japanese prime ministers continue to exert influence in several informal ways.