ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the case of the Persian Gulf War from 1990–1, revealing how a collective identity emerged during a situation wherein the United States demanded that Japan contribute personnel to the war, and Japan struggled to respond. This case details how the United States reacted to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait by using the United Nations and its international norm, and how Japan made efforts to adhere to said norms by adjusting its own norm based on Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution. In its dilemma between international peace and domestic anti-military norms, Japan struggled to assist US forces fighting against Iraq to liberate Kuwait with its first ever overseas dispatch of the JSDF (Japan Self-Defense Force). Japan’s effort represents an emerging collective identity between the United States and Japan.
