International Journal of Contemporary Iraqi Studies, Oct 19, 2007
The dispatch of the Japanese Self Defence Forces (SDF) to Iraq following the US invasion was a wa... more The dispatch of the Japanese Self Defence Forces (SDF) to Iraq following the US invasion was a watershed in the transformation of Japan's defence and security policy, from its traditional pacifist policy toward deeper involvement in international security issues. The Japanese media covered the situation in Iraq mainly in the context of Japan's policy regarding the SDF. An analysis of editorials in major Japanese newspapers shows that media concern regarding the SDF reached a peak during the proceedings on legislation to allow the dispatch of the SDF, but decreased dramatically following the dispatch. The presence of the SDF in Iraq became an issue that was too close to home. As a result, criticism became impossible, and the debate on the SDF became limited to the issue of morality and the loyalty of the Japanese people to the government. The analysis also shows that the original motivation for the dispatch of the SDF was not perceived as a domestic factor but as a reflection of Japan's relationship with the United States. Thus, the Japanese media failed to grasp the situation surrounding the SDF within the overall context of domestic political developments in Iraq.
Introduction Japan's policy toward the Middle East has been formed largely on two bases: economic... more Introduction Japan's policy toward the Middle East has been formed largely on two bases: economic interest, mainly to secure oil supplies, and its alliance with the US. These two factors have often contradicted each other over the recent past, especially after Japan's shift toward a pro-Arab policy in 1973. From that time until 1991, and to some extent 2003, Japan consistently followed a dual path in its policy; one involving policy-dependence on the US, and the other being the pursuit of its own bilateral diplomatic relations with Middle Eastern policy-makers (here referred to as Japan's independent policy). In the latter path, Japan pursued its own economic interest, mainly in Iran and Iraq, where the US had less direct access in the 1980s. In a sense, Japan's diplomatic policy toward Iraq and Iran after 1979 became a symbol of its independent diplomacy. 1
Depuis la fin de la Guerre du Golfe, les perceptions extérieures des forces d'opposition en ... more Depuis la fin de la Guerre du Golfe, les perceptions extérieures des forces d'opposition en Irak n'intègrent pas forcément toutes les dimensions des composantes politiques et religieuses en présence. Afin de déterminer si les organisations islamiques représentent effectivement ...
This paper aims to analyze the background of the emergence of "Islamic State" and prevailing sect... more This paper aims to analyze the background of the emergence of "Islamic State" and prevailing sectarian strife in the Middle East from the aspect of international relations, considering it as the result of the failure and mistakes, accumulated not only since the Iraq War and the Syrian Civil War but also from the post-WWI period when the territorial-state system was introduced in this area. This paper emphasizes the importance of the norms and ideas that provide the basis of regional order, and focuses on conflicts between norm-based regional order and interest-based regional alliance. The former has been pursued by the actors that underline supra-or sub-state identity as cores for regional solidarity, while the latter has been introduced by external actors, or established by conservatives to maintain the status quo to react to revolutionary/revisionist movements. The situation became complicated when regional actors faced three different cataclysmic transformations in 1979. Although each incident necessitated a different rearrangement of their relations, a shorthand patchwork-like formation of alliances was applied, in which the US and Saudi Arabia played key roles. In the post-1979 regime, rivalry became dominant between the interest-based pro-US regional alliances vs. the challengers that justified their own interests with norm-based regional order, manipulating supra-state identity. Once the influence of the US declined after 2011, pro-US state actors found neither interest-based regional alliance nor norm-based regional order supported their own interests. Here, sectarian identity has emerged as a kind of norm to cover their collective interest. Thus sectarianism is the result of necessity for the regional actors to legitimize their interest-based actions and to secure partners for collective action. "Islamic State" was born in this circumstance, where sectarian identity became an ostensible factor for new regional order in the Middle East in the absence of the US-led regional alliance.
Journal article by Keiko Sakai; Arab Studies Quarterly ( …, 2003
... are religious conflicts between the Christian zone advocating capitalism ethics and the poorI... more ... are religious conflicts between the Christian zone advocating capitalism ethics and the poorIslamic zone." He ... Regardless of the rivalry between the hawks and doves in the media, it is true ... a considerable number were in favor of allowing the SDF an increased role in support of ...
is a professor and Dean of Center for Relational Studies on Global Crises, Chiba University. She ... more is a professor and Dean of Center for Relational Studies on Global Crises, Chiba University. She led a five-year research project on Relational Studies on Global Crises and supervised a seven-volume book on the subject published by Iwanami Shoten. She has published a number of books and articles on Iraq, including Iraq since the Invasion: People and Politics in a State of Conflict (co-ed with P. Marfleet), Routledge (2020) and "Sectarian fault lines in the Middle East: Sources of conflicts or communal bonds?" in L.
International Journal of Contemporary Iraqi Studies, Oct 19, 2007
The dispatch of the Japanese Self Defence Forces (SDF) to Iraq following the US invasion was a wa... more The dispatch of the Japanese Self Defence Forces (SDF) to Iraq following the US invasion was a watershed in the transformation of Japan's defence and security policy, from its traditional pacifist policy toward deeper involvement in international security issues. The Japanese media covered the situation in Iraq mainly in the context of Japan's policy regarding the SDF. An analysis of editorials in major Japanese newspapers shows that media concern regarding the SDF reached a peak during the proceedings on legislation to allow the dispatch of the SDF, but decreased dramatically following the dispatch. The presence of the SDF in Iraq became an issue that was too close to home. As a result, criticism became impossible, and the debate on the SDF became limited to the issue of morality and the loyalty of the Japanese people to the government. The analysis also shows that the original motivation for the dispatch of the SDF was not perceived as a domestic factor but as a reflection of Japan's relationship with the United States. Thus, the Japanese media failed to grasp the situation surrounding the SDF within the overall context of domestic political developments in Iraq.
Introduction Japan's policy toward the Middle East has been formed largely on two bases: economic... more Introduction Japan's policy toward the Middle East has been formed largely on two bases: economic interest, mainly to secure oil supplies, and its alliance with the US. These two factors have often contradicted each other over the recent past, especially after Japan's shift toward a pro-Arab policy in 1973. From that time until 1991, and to some extent 2003, Japan consistently followed a dual path in its policy; one involving policy-dependence on the US, and the other being the pursuit of its own bilateral diplomatic relations with Middle Eastern policy-makers (here referred to as Japan's independent policy). In the latter path, Japan pursued its own economic interest, mainly in Iran and Iraq, where the US had less direct access in the 1980s. In a sense, Japan's diplomatic policy toward Iraq and Iran after 1979 became a symbol of its independent diplomacy. 1
Depuis la fin de la Guerre du Golfe, les perceptions extérieures des forces d'opposition en ... more Depuis la fin de la Guerre du Golfe, les perceptions extérieures des forces d'opposition en Irak n'intègrent pas forcément toutes les dimensions des composantes politiques et religieuses en présence. Afin de déterminer si les organisations islamiques représentent effectivement ...
This paper aims to analyze the background of the emergence of "Islamic State" and prevailing sect... more This paper aims to analyze the background of the emergence of "Islamic State" and prevailing sectarian strife in the Middle East from the aspect of international relations, considering it as the result of the failure and mistakes, accumulated not only since the Iraq War and the Syrian Civil War but also from the post-WWI period when the territorial-state system was introduced in this area. This paper emphasizes the importance of the norms and ideas that provide the basis of regional order, and focuses on conflicts between norm-based regional order and interest-based regional alliance. The former has been pursued by the actors that underline supra-or sub-state identity as cores for regional solidarity, while the latter has been introduced by external actors, or established by conservatives to maintain the status quo to react to revolutionary/revisionist movements. The situation became complicated when regional actors faced three different cataclysmic transformations in 1979. Although each incident necessitated a different rearrangement of their relations, a shorthand patchwork-like formation of alliances was applied, in which the US and Saudi Arabia played key roles. In the post-1979 regime, rivalry became dominant between the interest-based pro-US regional alliances vs. the challengers that justified their own interests with norm-based regional order, manipulating supra-state identity. Once the influence of the US declined after 2011, pro-US state actors found neither interest-based regional alliance nor norm-based regional order supported their own interests. Here, sectarian identity has emerged as a kind of norm to cover their collective interest. Thus sectarianism is the result of necessity for the regional actors to legitimize their interest-based actions and to secure partners for collective action. "Islamic State" was born in this circumstance, where sectarian identity became an ostensible factor for new regional order in the Middle East in the absence of the US-led regional alliance.
Journal article by Keiko Sakai; Arab Studies Quarterly ( …, 2003
... are religious conflicts between the Christian zone advocating capitalism ethics and the poorI... more ... are religious conflicts between the Christian zone advocating capitalism ethics and the poorIslamic zone." He ... Regardless of the rivalry between the hawks and doves in the media, it is true ... a considerable number were in favor of allowing the SDF an increased role in support of ...
is a professor and Dean of Center for Relational Studies on Global Crises, Chiba University. She ... more is a professor and Dean of Center for Relational Studies on Global Crises, Chiba University. She led a five-year research project on Relational Studies on Global Crises and supervised a seven-volume book on the subject published by Iwanami Shoten. She has published a number of books and articles on Iraq, including Iraq since the Invasion: People and Politics in a State of Conflict (co-ed with P. Marfleet), Routledge (2020) and "Sectarian fault lines in the Middle East: Sources of conflicts or communal bonds?" in L.
a chapter from "Security Dynamics of East Asia in the Gulf Region", ed, by Tim Niblock with Yang ... more a chapter from "Security Dynamics of East Asia in the Gulf Region", ed, by Tim Niblock with Yang Guang, Gerlach Press, 2014
When outside forces-war, civil war, or regime change-cause drastic changes in an existing value s... more When outside forces-war, civil war, or regime change-cause drastic changes in an existing value system and when institutional mechanisms have collapsed, not only sectarian identities, but kinship
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Papers by Keiko Sakai