ABSTRACT
Since its accession to the UN, Japan has consolidated its national identity as a bridge between the East and the West in various ways. The United States has long recognised Japan’s value as an ally with strong connections in Asia and Africa, with the establishment of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 1966, as a result of Japanese policy, being one of the most obvious examples of this. Together with the publication of the first Diplomatic Bluebook, in which the Three Basic Principles were defined, Kishi successfully formulated Japan’s defence policy by publishing Japan’s first Basic Policy on National Defense in May 1957. A new generation of Japanese strategic thinkers emerged in the 1960s. Before this, Japanese academia was overwhelmingly dominated by leftist intellectuals, many of whom energetically argued for the abolition of both the Self-Defense Forces and the US–Japan security alliance.
