ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes Japan’s peace-building policy as a manifestation of decentering from the US after the Cold War, focusing on the development Japan’s peace-building policy over 25 years through SDF dispatches to so called “International Peace Operations” (Kokusai heiwa katsudō). The first part of the chapter overviews the policies and the accumulated cases of Japan’s International Peace Operations since 1992. The second part of the chapter points to crucial influence from, and cooperation with, Europe that have significantly affected Japan’s peace-building policy, and how this connects with decentering from the US.
