UK-Japan strategic partnership in defence and security

Since the beginning of its post-war history, Japan has been at a crossroads of identities, sharing and promoting the values of the Western world in Asia and relying on Western partners, primarily the US and the UK, to ensure Japanese national security. Britain is also showing interest in military-political cooperation with Japan as both countries were linked by a defense alliance at the beginning of the XX century. The paper explores the leading factors using comparative analysis of strategic documents and initiatives in both countries aimed at defense and security cooperation. The author addresses the prospects for this cooperation based on the analysis of the correlation of the selected factors in the paradigmatic framework of neoclassical realism. The main factors of the development of strategic UK-Japan relations in the field of defense and security in the recent period are identified as the “US factor”, since the US is the main strategic partner for both Japan and Britain. Moreover, the “China factor” is analyzed, as Beijing’s activity creates, in the opinion of US allies, risks to their security. An ambivalent impact on the current state of the partnership and its prospects is revealed due to the conflict of approaches that explain the choice of partners in defense and security. Since the “value” approach contradicts the realist and geopolitical approach, due to the difference in perception of security threats caused, in particular, by geography.

uk, japan, cooperation, alliance, security, defense, us, china, security policy