Berger in CSM: Abe’s Military Postures
Thomas Berger, Professor of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, said that the increase in military posturing by the government of Shinzo Abe in Japan had the potential for contributing to tensions in Asia.
Berger made his argument in a July 26 article in Christian Science Monitor entitled “Why Asia Is Still Fighting Over World War II.”
From the text of the article:
As Tokyo – emerging from a seven-decade cocoon of pacifism – strives to play a greater military role to support the US, its ambitions are spawning new concerns. Japan’s reluctance to face up to its past, former victims worry, means the country might return to its militarist ways, aggravating tensions with its neighbors.
“History is the core concern of Northeast Asian politics,” says Park Joon-woo, recently retired adviser to South Korean President Park Geun-hye. “And that will continue as long as Japanese leaders try to erase their history.”
“There is a lot of combustible material around, and Abe could make things pretty hot,” warns Thomas Berger, a professor at Boston University who has written a book about Japan’s postwar politics.
You can read the entire article here.
Berger’s articles and essays have appeared in numerous edited volumes and journals, including International Security, Review of International Studies, German Politics and World Affairs Quarterly. Learn more about him here.