Le pacifisme constitutionnel nippon à l'épreuve de la guerre du Golfe

In: Politique étrangère: revue trimestrielle publiée par l'Institut Français des Relations Internationales, Band 57, Heft 1, S. 143-157

Abstract

The Gulf War has put Japan's Constitutional Pacifism to the Test, by Eric Seizelet
The difficulties which have been encountered since Autumn 1990 concerning Japanese participation in UN peacekeeping operations have provoked wide controversy over the modification of the Japanese constitution to respond to changes in the international order. Although the Gulf War brought the question very much into the open, it was in fact a problem of long standing and had figured in many debates during the eighties on Japan's « international contribution ». The possibility of sending military forces abroad is a highly charged and divisive issue for both political and public opinion. These differences of opinion have put heavy constraints on achieving passage of the new act, and demonstrate clearly the weakness of Japanese machinery for political décision making when faced with situations of crisis.