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Human Security, Development and Japanese Policy Prioritization. Associate Professor Brendan Howe, PhD Ewha Graduate School of International Studies. Introduction. Foreign aid literature has long been critical of Japan’s national interest prioritization Commercial Self-Interest Thesis
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Human Security, Development and Japanese Policy Prioritization Associate Professor Brendan Howe, PhD Ewha Graduate School of International Studies
Introduction • Foreign aid literature has long been critical of Japan’s national interest prioritization • Commercial Self-Interest Thesis • Nevertheless, substantial aid, well-received • Positive impact on human security and development while fulfill strategic agendas • = greater donor commitment than strategically less interested Western actors
Aid to China • Much aid to regional rival China • Cumulative total US$21 billion • More than 50% aid to China – next 2 donors Germany and France = 15% and 5% • Suits Japanese security interests to have more positively disposed less threatening trading partner • But still major impact
Aid Impact • (1) Assistance contributed to the development of China’s industrial infrastructure; • (2) the strengthening of Chinese infrastructure facilitated inflow of FDI; • (3) FDI encouraged the expansion and diversification of China’s foreign trade; • (4) trade promoted development and global incorporation of Chinese economy
Aid to Southeast Asia • Japan craves markets and raw materials opened up through development. • Has to overcome the historical legacy and China’s current and future challenge. • Again, as Japan attempts to gain political capital, there are substantial collateral benefits for the region.
Impact of Assistance to SEA • As in China, Japanese assistance (both ODA and loans) has supported the industrial development of Southeast Asia. • 3phases of contributions: • war reparations (1950s-60s); • ODA, FDI and trade expansion (1970s-80s); • human security-based ODA (1990s-present)
Human Security Prioritization • Japan consistently pursues FP through economic means such as ODA, foreign direct investment and loans rather than by military means. • 2003 ODA charter =help ensure Japan’s own security and prosperity with human security the first ‘priority issue’. • Thus, human security is explicitly linked with ODA policy, with national interest, and is used to give ODA a sense of purpose.
Motivations • The reasons for Japan’s leadership in human security promotion are in fact three-fold: • To advance its diplomatic interests by using ODA effectively as a diplomatic tool; • to benefit vulnerable sections of the global community; • and to secure bureaucratic interests by gaining public support for ODA through active commitment to human security.
International Activism • Commission on Human Security (CHS). • Trust Fund for Human Security in the UN • The prioritization of SEA in the UNTFHS overlaps with those of Japan’s aid policy. • Much of its budget has been allocated in dealing with conflict situations and transition from war to peace, further reflecting Japan’s comprehensive and integrative approach to security and development.
Conclusion • Japan played lead role in financing East Asian development and remains committed to such a path due to its own strategic self-interest. • Likewise to promoting human security through the CHS, bilateral ODA through JICA, and multilateral ODA through the UNTFHS. • Despite conflation of Devt, HS and Nat Interest, both development and human security furthered because tenets form bedrock of Tokyo’s foreign and security policy.
