Brian Chapman / Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer
The overreaching of the U.S. military as a result of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan could weaken Japan's security, as it relies heavily on the United States for long-term military support, Yale University Prof. Paul Kennedy, said Thursday.
"The United States is significantly overstretched militarily, and...this comes at a time of a weakening dollar, a slowing economy, a subprime mortgage crisis and enormous trade deficits and federal budget deficits. To the extent that Japan relies upon long-term American military support [for security], all these are not welcome signs," Kennedy said at a forum titled "Japan's Decision--The Changing International Situation and Japan's Diplomacy," held at a hotel in Tokyo.
The forum was cosponsored by the Yomiuri International Economic Society and The Yomiuri Shimbun.
Kennedy pointed out that even though Japan has changed little politically and economically in the past 20 years compared with many countries and regions, this "may be, ironically, Japan's new problem" as the United States and Japan share less of the global economic pie, and countries such as Brazil, China, India and Russia and the European Union grow in influence.
"We're back...to a multipolar world" that has not been seen since before the Cold War, Kennedy said.
"The challenges to Japanese leadership--the challenges to preserve and increase Japan's security, prosperity and environment--are probably even greater now than they were 20 or 25 years ago. This is not cause for alarm, but cause for concern," he said.
Kennedy also speculated that the United States' military overreach could tie its hands in its dealings with North Korea. "[The United States] probably doesn't have the reserves to reinforce the Korean Peninsula, should North Korea become threatening," he said, "which is why we must hope for continued peaceful negotiations on Korean matters."
(Nov. 30, 2007)
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