OSAKA — Japan appears to be drifting aimlessly under a divided government, and its external policy seems equally disoriented under a Fukuda administration that has been up to its neck and largely unsuccessful in blazing new trails for the country. Surprisingly, though, bureaucratic autopilot does not pervade Japanese politics.
Since the late 1990s, Japan has kept in step with increasingly sophisticated U.S. military advances centered on networked, information-dominant strategies, often referred to as the Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA). The greater investments that Japan has had to make to keep in step with U.S. RMA advances have transformed the traditional nature of the bilateral power relationship that represents the U.S.-Japan alliance.
To keep an element of proportion on U.S. RMA advances, Tokyo has aimed at achieving a gradual and limited transformation, with the initial focus on creating advanced RMA enclaves consisting of Aegis vessels, AWACS aircraft and some C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) sensors, installations and facilities.