DISSYUKOV Almas (PhD Student, University of Tsukuba)
＊この記事は『広島平和研究』９号に掲載されたものです。
Abstruct
This article examines Japan’s cooperation with Central Asian countries in the security field based on the example of Kazakh-Japanese interactions in nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation, and the peaceful use of atomic energy. Using constructivism as the main theoretical framework, the author reveals new ideas, norms, and identities that complement the existing architecture of bilateral perceptions and cooperation. At the same time, the author focuses on restraining norms in the two countries’ behavior, which constrain mutual calls for cooperation. The author also uses desk research and discourse analysis to explore the numerous written and oral sources of information he obtained in Kazakhstan and Japan, including official documents, as well as interviews with officials, former diplomats, researchers, and civil society groups in the two countries. The article presents a deeper understanding of the political and economic motives of cooperation between the two countries. The article covers a 30-year period from the moment of the emergence of modern Kazakhstan in 1991 until the end of 2021.
Introduction
In February 2022, Kazakhstan and Japan celebrated the 30th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties. The Government of Japan (GOJ) became one of the first foreign countries to recognize Kazakhstan’s independence in December 1991. Over three decades, Kazakhstan and Japan have been able to accumulate vast experience in political and economic cooperation, as well as to generate various cooperative approaches in international fora. As a result, the Government of Kazakhstan (GOK) openly supports Japan’s aspirations to join the UN Security Council (UNSC) as a permanent member.
To date, Kazakh-Japanese relations have been studied in detail in terms of political dialogue, multilateral contacts, and economic cooperation. In contrast, issues of bilateral interactions in the field of security have never been dealt with in such detail. Indeed, the GOJ’s security engagement in Central Asia (CA) is always limited to its participation in various regional projects aimed at the effective management of border control, the prevention of drug trafficking, and the retention of energy resource supplies. In addition, these studies often ignore the Japanese experience of interaction with “nuclear Kazakhstan” as a possible source of initial security concerns. Partially, these aspects were touched upon in the writings of famous Japanese diplomats and scholars, such as Ambassador (Amb.) Kyoko Nakayama (Nakayama 2005), Amb. Akira Matsui (Matsui 2007), Amb. Toshio Tsunozaki (Tsunozaki 2007), Amb. Akio Kawato (Kawato 2008), and Professor Tomohiko Uyama (Uyama 2004, 2010, 2015). Academic publications of Kazakh authors, such as those by Mrs. Akerke Sultanova (Sultanova 2018), are limited in quantity and content.
It is important to assess nuclear disarmament and the non-proliferation partnership between the two countries as a good example of security interaction in order to reveal their missing identities, norms, and ideas, which form mutual similarities and gaps (Collins, 2016:74). Multilateral cooperation is seen as an inseparable part of this process and not as a separate environment (Suh et al., 2008:108-9). Constructivism shows how Kazakhstan and Japan form ideas of bilateral relations in the context of global security, including humanitarian consequences. This approach helps us to understand how the two countries perceive each other through Alexander Wendt’s “Self and Others” lens, and how their beliefs affect bilateral relations. Indeed, actors continually shape international ties through their interactions. Their identities depend on whether these relationships will be directed toward cooperation or confrontation. At the same time, specific goals are formed on the basis of how countries see themselves in relation to other nations and the international community in general. This is why state identities, state beliefs, and norms are an important part constructed by social structures (i.e., shared knowledge, material resources and practices), rather than given exogenously to the system by human nature or domestic politics (Wendt, 1994:385).
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