ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 examines the case of the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. The September 11 attacks generated another trying period for the US-Japan alliance. The alliance was not designed to respond to terrorism, and the terrorists did not attack Japan; thus, Japan was not able to exercise its right to self-defense. To assist with the deployment of US forces in Afghanistan against Osama bin Laden, Japan needed to employ collective self-defense; however, a traditional interpretation of Article 9 of the Constitution prevented Japan from employing collective self-defense. Prime Minister Koizumi seized the initiative to create fast legislation that enabled JSDF ships to be deployed in the Indian Ocean’s Diego Garcia by bypassing constitutional debates. This chapter presents how Japan and the United States differed in their decision-making process from the case of the Persian Gulf War (1990–1). This chapter concludes by recognizing the growing collective identity of these two nations.
