Rethinking Burden-sharing in Alliance Relations: Japan's Ideational Contributions to the United States-Japan Alliance

Authors

Alice Dell'EraFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

International Relations

First Advisor's Name

Félix E. Martín

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Chair

Second Advisor's Name

Thomas A. Breslin

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Third Advisor's Name

John G. Oates

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Terrence G. Peterson

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Keywords

Burden-sharing, US-Japan relations, Alliances, Strategic narratives, Japan, Indo-Pacific

Date of Defense

5-12-2023

Abstract

The question of burden-sharing is a common issue affecting alliance relations. At the core of the debate is the extent to which junior allies provide fair contributions to an alliance in exchange for the benefits gained. This assessment is often based on an understanding of allies’ contributions as merely material, tangible, and thus, concretely measurable forms of provisions. In short, sharing the burden of an alliance is taken to mean providing the necessary financial, military, and logistical resources that concretely advance the alliance’s objectives. While these contributions certainly matter, this study reconceptualizes burden-sharing as power-sharing to include an often overlooked dimension, that of ideational contributions. Using the U.S.-Japan Alliance as an in-depth case study, this research explores the process through which the Japanese government has made valuable contributions to the alliance with the United States at the ideational level, by mobilizing norms, ideas, and images of order through discourse. Examining the rhetoric and discourses embedded within official documents and speeches, the project identifies and compares three strategic narratives where the mobilization of ideas functions in support of or in opposition to the alliance’s vision and assesses the extent to which each of these strategic narratives functions as ideational frameworks through which Japan has shared the burden of promoting and sustaining a regional order consistent with the alliance’s goals. The project also zooms in on the Free and Open Indo Pacific (FOIP) narrative and sheds light on the modalities in which this distinctive strategic narrative benefits the alliance and its objectives.

Identifier

FIDC011108

ORCID

0000-0002-5142-9857

Recommended Citation

Dell'Era, Alice, "Rethinking Burden-sharing in Alliance Relations: Japan's Ideational Contributions to the United States-Japan Alliance" (2023). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5338.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/5338