The Gulf War and Japan’s national security identity

On August 2, 1990, Iraqi Republican Guard units invaded Kuwait from the north and northwest as Iraqi aircraft bombed downtown Kuwait City. This chapter focuses on Japan's experience in the Gulf War ushered in the lost decades, also witnesses the evolution of a new national security identity. Before August 1990, Japan debated a future role confident that economic instruments would define international influence and that geography had rendered Japan an indispensable security partner for the United States. The crisis in Japanese diplomatic performance in the Gulf War led to intense debate and action on two fronts: collective security and the US-Japan alliance. Throughout the postwar period, Japanese foreign policy followed the trajectory set early on by Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru and followed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Foreign Ministry established the Foreign Policy Bureau to handle long-term strategic planning and immediate crisis coordination.