After reading last week’s column on the modernization of command and control in Japan’s military and the resulting need for a similar updating of the Japan-U.S. alliance, professor Ellis Krauss, one of the grand old men of Japan studies in the U.S, emailed, wondering if Japanese politicians had gotten the memo.
“What if Japanese political authorities don’t want the Self-Defense Forces to get involved even though they’re willing to have the U.S. use bases in Japan?" he inquired. "If the Japanese government can’t decide or won’t, how does Joint Command work in that case?”
Last week’s article nibbled at the question, noting Japan’s insistence on the retention of separate — and independent — command authorities even as the two countries set up a more joint structure. Krauss is right to hammer home the point that the ultimate success of this project depends as much, if not more, on will as capability.