ScholarWorks@숙명여자대학교

초록

The purpose of this article is to analyze the relationship between Japan’s arms export policy and its national interests. Arguing that Japan’s security policy has been largely constrained by an anti-militarist norm, constructivists have emphasized the significance of non-material factors in explaining the state's behavior. In contrast, realists argue that a state pursues the maximization of national interests; its behavior is determined by cost/benefit calculations. The shortcomings of the realist accounts is, however, that they either ignore or take a normative factor as a given, failing to explain whether normative factors had any effect on a state’s behavior. By incorporating power considerations among actors and analyzing political discourse, this article elucidates the factors behind Japan’s preference changes from a realist point of view. As opposed to the constructivist claim, cost/benefit calculations, not the regulative effects of the anti-militarist norm, are the decisive factor operating behind Japan’s decision-making process regarding its arms export policy.

키워드