Japan and ASEAN: Their Changing Security Relations

Southeast Asia has been one of the key components of Japan's foreign policy in the post-Cold War period. It is one region where Japan's diplomacy has accomplished considerable success in coming to terms with the challenges posed by the legacies of the Second World War. Successive Japanese governments since 1952 have always maintained that the stability and security of ASEAN countries are closely tied to Japan's security and prosperity. the collapse of the Cold War structures, the rise of non-traditional threats like terrorism, maritime piracy, climate change and energy scarcity and the advent of China as an economic and military power in Asia have compelled both Japan and ASEAN to see security in a broader and comprehensive perspective. Though Japan has still not removed all the taboos that had stood in its way of becoming a 'normal state', it has gone a fairly long way to shoulder greater regional security responsibilities than before.