THE PROBLEM OF REVERSION OF OKINAWA IN THE US-JAPAN POSTWAR RELATIONS
- Authors: Streltsov DV1
-
Affiliations:
- Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
- Issue: Vol 17, No 3 (2017): ASEAN and Inter-Regional Cooperation in Asia
- Pages: 598-611
- Section: HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
- URL: https://journals.rcsi.science/2313-0660/article/view/338968
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-0660-2017-17-3-598-611
- ID: 338968
Cite item
Full Text
Abstract
In the postwar period the Okinawa problem for many years was a stumbling block in the relations between Japan and the United States, creating the risk of undermining the foundations of the alliance. In fact, Okinawa personified a deep contradiction between the diplomatic and military-strategic interests of the United States in East Asia and the national interests of Japan, for which Okinawa was a primarily domestic political problem. In the mid-1960 's, despite the increasing role of Okinawa in the American global strategy after the start of the Vietnam war, the United States came to the conclusion of the speedy reversion of Okinawa to Japan. The main obstacle for the implementation of this decision was the nuclear weapon stored in Okinawa, which played an important role in the global strategy of Pentagon. The United States managed to find an option of reversion Okinawa to Japan in 1972, under which they retained the right to store nuclear weapons in Okinawa and to transit them through the island in the case of emergency. The transfer administrative right on Okinawa to Japan was a symbolic act, by which the United States demonstrated their willingness for Japan to play a ‘responsible role’ in the alliance as an active actor, not just a junior partner.
About the authors
D V Streltsov
Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
Author for correspondence.
Email: dmstrl@gmail.com
Doctor of History, Professor, Head of the Oriental Studies Department at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of the MFA of the Russian Federation
References
- Aldous, C. (2003). Achieving Reversion: Protest and Authority in Okinawa, 1952—70. Modern Asian Studies, 37 (2), 485—508. doi: 10.1017/S0026749X03002099.
- DiFilippo, A. (2006). Japan’s nuclear disarmament Policy and the U.S. security umbrella. N.Y.: Pal¬grave Macmillan.
- Eldridge, R. (2001). The Origins of the Bilateral Okinawa Problem: Okinawa in Postwar U.S.-Japan Relations, 1945—1952. N.Y.: Garland Pub.
- Hara, K. (2007). Cold War Frontiers in the Asia-Pacific: Divided Territories in the San Francisco System. London: Routledge.
- Hook G.D. (2015). The American eagle in Okinawa: the politics of contested memory and the unfi¬nished war. Japan Forum, 27 (3), p. 299—320. doi: 10.1080/09555803.2015.1042011.
- Hook G.D., Gilson J., Hughes C.W. & Hugo D. (2005). Japan’s international relations. Politics, eco¬nomics and security. 2nd ed. London and New York: Routledge.
- Iokibe, M. (Eds.). (2011). The Diplomatic History of Postwar Japan. London: Routledge.
- Ito, G. (2003). Alliance in anxiety: détente and the Sino-American-Japanese triangle. New York: Rout¬ledge.
- Kono, Y. & Simotomai, N. (2015). Japan-Soviet Relations in the Cold War Period (1955—1970) and the Territorial Issue in the Triangle the USSR — The USA — Japan. In: Russo- Japanese Relations in the Format of Parallel History. Moscow: MGIMO-University Pb., p. 591—620. (in Russ.).
- Lie, J. (2001). Multiethnic Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
- Mendel, D. H. (1975). Okinawan Reversion in Retrospect. Pacific Affairs, 48 (3), 398—412.
- Mitchell J. (2015). Battle scars: Okinawa and the Vietnam War. URL: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/ news/2015/03/07/national/history/forgotten-history-okinawa-vietnam-war/#.WNI2fvmLSUl (accessed 22.03.2017).
- Murthy, P.A.N. (1970). Reversion of Okinawa and Japan's Future Defence Posture. China Report, 6 (1), 17—22.
- Pustovoit, E.V. (2014). The Legal Measures for the Reversion of Okinawa and its Inclusion in the In¬tegration Processes of the Asia Pacific. Rossiya i ATR, 4 (86), 142—153. (in Russ.).
- Strel’tsov, D.V. (2015). The Diplomatic Priorities of Japan in the Asia Pacific Region. Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura. (in Russ.).
- Togo, K. (2005). Japan’s Foreign Policy, 1945—2003. The Quest for a Proactive Policy. Leiden, Bos¬ton: Brill.
- Varma, L. (1980). Okinawa Before and Since Reversion. International Studies, 19 (1), 43—57. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/002088178001900103.
- Wada, H. (2015). The birth of a ‘peaceful state’. Tokyo: Iwanami shoten. (in Japanese).
- Wakaizumi, K. (2002). The Best Course Available: A Personal Account of the Secret U.S.-Japan Okinawa Reversion Negotiations. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Supplementary files
