Abstract
The article investigates Japan’s foreign policy towards the South Caucasus by unveiling the full range of its paraphernalia. After dwelling on Japan as a foreign policy actor, it delineates the policy vis-à-vis the South Caucasian states of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia along the categories of political dialogue, development assistance and economic cooperation by relying on untapped primary sources. Subsequently, the article analyzes the official discourse pertaining to Japan’s strategy and tactics with respect to the South Caucasus. Ultimately, it provides an explanation by situating the case study within the existing conceptual frameworks of “civilian” and “normative power”. Based on the findings, the article argues that Japan has not been a “normative” but it has been a “civilian power”—a conceptual framework, which can be placed within the theory of neo-liberalism. In a nutshell, even though Japan is an enigmatic actor, it has been predominantly pragmatic in its policy towards the South Caucasus.
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Notes
The Kuril islands Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and Habomai have both economic (i.e., minerals and fish) and security (vis-à-vis US and Japanese maritime forces) importance (Azizian 2006, p. 160).
While Azerbaijan submitted its application for membership to the WTO in 1997, the Working Group on Azerbaijan comprises Japan together with Australia, Canada, the EU, and the USA (Permanent Mission of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the United Nations n.d.).
GU(U)AM—deriving its short name from the first letters of its member states Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Moldova—Organization for Democracy and Economic Development is a regional organization founded in 1999. Uzbekistan joined GUAM in 1999 and left at the end of May 2005 in the context of solidification of the pro-Western orientations of the other member states after the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan, which took place in March–April 2005 and the subsequent demonstration in Uzbekistan, which led to the tragic Andijan massacre in mid-May 2005.
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Acknowledgments
The author is thankful to the editor of this journal and the anonymous reviewers, as well as Professor Dr. Hidetoshi Nakamura, Professor Dr. Airo Hino, and Frederik Ponjaert for the discussions over the topic.
Source of support
The research was supported by the Top Global University project of Waseda University.
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Vasilyan, S. Japan’s policy towards the South Caucasus: pragmatic even if enigmatic. Asia Eur J 15, 55–73 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-016-0462-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-016-0462-1