The maintenance of peace in international society has developed through major historical trials. The United Nations, created after reflecting on the two world wars, still plays an important role in maintaining peace today. It is important to understand Japan’s pacifism in this context.
Basic Knowledge
There are two major frameworks for maintaining peace in international politics. The balance of power is the idea that states seek to deter war by maintaining a balance of power through alliances and other means. In contrast, collective security is a system in which states agree to maintain peace by imposing collective sanctions on a state that commits aggression. The United Nations is based on collective security.
Among the principal organs of the United Nations, the Security Council has primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. It consists of five permanent members—the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and China (P5)—and ten nonpermanent members. The permanent members have veto power. When the interests of the major powers conflict, this can create a “barrier of great-power vetoes” that causes the Security Council to become dysfunctional.
In the area of disarmament, there are treaties such as the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Japan upholds the Three Non-Nuclear Principles—not possessing, not producing, and not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons—as a national policy, and as the only country to have suffered atomic bombings in war, it calls for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Collective security (a peacekeeping framework in which all member states impose sanctions on an aggressor state)
Security Council (a principal organ of the United Nations. Responsible for maintaining international peace and security)
Veto power (the authority held by the five permanent members to block substantive decisions)
PKO (United Nations peacekeeping operations) (activities such as monitoring ceasefires by peacekeeping forces dispatched by the United Nations)
Three Non-Nuclear Principles (Japan’s national policy: not possessing, not producing, and not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons)
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) (a treaty intended to prevent an increase in the number of nuclear-weapon states)
Further Study (Background and Significance)
The League of Nations, established after World War I, adopted unanimity and had structural defects, including the nonparticipation of major countries such as the United States, the Soviet Union, Japan, and Germany. Based on this reflection, the United Nations was established in 1945 and adopted majority voting and cooperation among the great powers through the Security Council. During the Cold War, however, the United States and the Soviet Union abused their vetoes, and the Security Council was effectively paralyzed. After the end of the Cold War, peacekeeping operations increased sharply and the functions of the United Nations recovered, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 once again raised the problem of veto power.
Japan’s pacifism is stated in Article 9 of the Constitution, which provides for the renunciation of war, the non-maintenance of war potential, and the denial of the right of belligerency. The Three Non-Nuclear Principles were proposed by Prime Minister Eisaku Sato and form the foundation of Japan’s nuclear abolition diplomacy.
- Collective security: a system in which states collectively impose sanctions on an aggressor state
- Permanent members of the Security Council (P5): the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and China
- Veto power: if even one P5 country opposes a proposal, a substantive resolution cannot be adopted
- For PKO, countries dispatch military and civilian personnel at the request of the United Nations
- The Three Non-Nuclear Principles: not possessing, not producing, and not permitting the introduction
- The NPT limits recognized nuclear-weapon states to the P5 and prevents nuclear proliferation
- Japan has not signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW)
Points to Note (Easily Confused Concepts)
① Difference between the League of Nations and the United Nations: the League used unanimity and the United States did not participate, while the United Nations uses majority voting and a Security Council system. ② Difference between collective security and collective self-defense: the former means sanctions within the United Nations framework, while the latter is the right to respond jointly to an armed attack on an ally. ③ The NPT aims to prevent nuclear proliferation, while the TPNW aims to prohibit nuclear weapons completely; they have different purposes. ④ Note that the Three Non-Nuclear Principles are not laws but a national policy.
Practice
- What kind of system is collective security? Explain it in relation to the balance of power.
- Describe specific problems caused by the veto power of the Security Council.
- State the content of Japan’s Three Non-Nuclear Principles and explain their significance.