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Yee Kuang HENG is Professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy, The University of Tokyo. Yee Kuang is on sabbatical at Cambridge University鈥檚 Centre for the Study of Existential Risks as a Senior Academic Visitor. His recent publications include 鈥淯K-Japan military exercises and mutual strategic reassurance鈥�, Defence Studies, Vol. 21 Issue 3 (2021); 鈥淛apan鈥檚 significance for the United Kingdom鈥檚 shaping ambitions in the Indo-Pacific鈥�, East Asian Policy (forthcoming 2022), 鈥淓nhancing Europe鈥檚 Global Power in Asia 2030鈥�, Global Policy, Vol. 11 Issue 1 (2020); 鈥淪haping the Indo-Pacific? Japan and Europeanisation鈥�, LSE IDEAS Strategic Update (2021); 鈥淢ilitary Evolution and Japan鈥檚 Self-Defense Forces鈥� in Nicole Jenne and Alan Chong (eds) Asian Military Evolutions (Bristol University Press, forthcoming 2023).

Although the constitutional status of its Self-Defence Forces (SDF) remains a subject of intense political debate, Japan鈥檚 participation in military exercises has in fact grown quite rapidly over the years. Drawing from interviews with SDF officers and civilian policymakers, his paper explores what strategic cost-benefit calculations help explain Japan鈥檚 choice of specific partners or exercise formats (bilateral/multilateral) in the region. Were exercises valued or developed according to some political, strategic, capacity-building, military/operational, or other benchmark? To what extent do those exercises help Japan maintain or achieve its desired vision of regional order?

Time: 16:15-17:30
Date: 11/11/2022
Venue: S0.13, Social Sciences Building