From official Japanese policy to the new wave of trendy cultural activities, the air of change is evident: Japan is looking Eastward for new multipolar relations in security as well as economics. This research reviews much of the literature that has discussed the evolution of Japanese security relations since the end of the Cold War. The literature is critically reviewed for future implications of the long-standing security arrangement between the United States and Japan.
Evolution of U.S.-Japanese Security Relations
Prior to the collapse of the Cold War, Western as well as eastern security arrangements were defined by the bipolar world powers: the United States and the Soviet Union. The United States and the Soviet Union competed desperately for "spheres of influence" across the globe. Alliances were built upon this competition for world power between Americans and the Russians. These alliances were founded upon both military security and economics.
The American occupation of Japan following the Second World War built one of the world's strongest international relationships between two countries. On August 9, 1945, with Japan on the verge of surrender, Stalin's Soviet Union unexpectedly declared war on Japan in violation of a prior neutrality pact and swiftly claimed several Japanese islands as Soviet territory. The Soviet Union also took as many as 600,000 Japanese prisoners and sent them to concentration camps in Siberia (Saito, 1993, p. 275). These events laid the groundwork for extremely hostile relations between the Soviet Union and Japan for decades later. Consequently, when American forces finally occupied Japan, the nation was fully prepared to enter into a solid defense and economic alliance with the United States against the Soviet Union (Zagorsky, 1993, p. 137).
The United States similarly had reasons for wanting a strong alliance with Japan. Japan stood squarely in the middle of the Asian continent where Ame...