“The Development of Japan Special Operations Command’s Capability: 21st Century Samurai Diplomats” is a new Alumni Perspectives from former DKI APCSS intern Ryota Akiba.

In his paper, Akiba discusses the gap in Japan’s self-defense program for responding to international terrorist actions and how establishing and maintaining Special Operating Forces could potentially fill that gap.

According to Aikba, “along with the rest of the world, Japan faces a growing transnational terrorism threat, yet Japan’s military capability and legal framework to counterterrorism remain under development.”

He further stated that: In order to respond to the complex security environment and to save Japanese nationals overseas, the Government of Japan should consider the development of a Japan Special Operations Command (JP-SOCOM). To make this argument, this paper consists of four parts; 1) the case for the establishment of JP-SOCOM, 2) the proposed JP-SOCOM’s ideal capabilities, 3) the way to establish JP-SOCOM and addressing 4) the possible outcomes of establishing the command.

Read “The Development of Japan Special Operations Command’s Capability: 21st Century Samurai Diplomats” online at this link:

https://dkiapcss.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/final_Ryota-Akiba-The-Development-of-Japan-Special-Operations-Command…….pdf

The views expressed in this article are the author’s alone. They do not represent the official policy of the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, the Department of Defense or the Government of the United States.

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