Japan’s 2010 National Defense Program Guidelines – Reading the Tea Leaves

On December 17, Japan's Cabinet, under the leadership of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), published Japan's ten-year defense strategy, known as the National Defense Program Guidelines (NDPG). In response to a rapidly transforming strategic environment, the 2010 NDPG -- the first by a non-Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) government -- delineates a number of major changes. At the same time, "reading between the lines" finds that the NDPG is equally significant for what it reflects about the continuity in Japan's defense policy. (The East West Center)

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