On June 20, the Research Committee on Security (Anzen Hosho Chosa-kai) within Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) released an interim report with recommendations for Japan’s next Mid-Term Defense Program (MTDP) for fiscal years 2019-2023. The committee, led by former Deputy Minister of Defense Hiroshi Imazu, is aiming to announce its final report by spring of 2018.
Two recommendations in the interim report attracted particular attention. First, the interim report supported one of the key recommendations put forward by the LDP’s Policy Affairs Research Council in March, namely that the Japanese government begin to discuss the option of acquiring “enemy counter-attack capability.” In addition, the report recommended that Japan use NATO countries’ benchmark for defense expenditures —2 percent of gross domestic production (GDP) — as “a point of reference” as Japan considers the appropriate level of spending for its own defense. Other areas that the interim report identified as priorities include the possible acquisition of indigenously-developed military surveillance satellites and the development of offensive cyber capabilities in the Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF).
This article was originally published in The Diplomat on June 23, 2017. Read the full article here.
Japan
On June 20, the Research Committee on Security (Anzen Hosho Chosa-kai) within Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) released an interim report with recommendations for Japan’s next Mid-Term Defense Program (MTDP) for fiscal years 2019-2023. The committee, led by former Deputy Minister of Defense Hiroshi Imazu, is aiming to announce its final report by spring of 2018.
Two recommendations in the interim report attracted particular attention. First, the interim report supported one of the key recommendations put forward by the LDP’s Policy Affairs Research Council in March, namely that the Japanese government begin to discuss the option of acquiring “enemy counter-attack capability.” In addition, the report recommended that Japan use NATO countries’ benchmark for defense expenditures —2 percent of gross domestic production (GDP) — as “a point of reference” as Japan considers the appropriate level of spending for its own defense. Other areas that the interim report identified as priorities include the possible acquisition of indigenously-developed military surveillance satellites and the development of offensive cyber capabilities in the Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF).
This article was originally published in The Diplomat on June 23, 2017. Read the full article here.
Recent & Related
Intergenerational Solidarity and Learning in an Era of Declining Trust
The UN Annually Votes on Ending the US Embargo on Cuba. What Does it Mean for Unilateral Sanctions and Their Impact on Human Rights?
Experts React: The Midterms and America’s Place in the World
The Lame-Duck Period is Full of Peril in the War on Iran
Is Reforming the UNSC Realistic? Article 27(3) of the UN Charter Offers a Starting Point.
Beyond the Populist Zeitgeist
A New Transatlantic Equilibrium
Forging a European Foreign Policy
A Superpower in Decline
What Is Going on in Cybersecurity?
The Implications of Ukraine’s Starshield Access for the US Military
Egypt’s Parallel Inc. & the Myth of Sovereign Efficiency
Find an Expert
Home to more than 100 scholars and global affiliates, the Stimson Center is proud to be a magnet for the world’s leading experts on the most pressing foreign policy and national security issues of our time. Explore our experts and their work.