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Abstract

Since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe began his second term in office in 2012, there have been significant changes in the position of the Japanese military in the country's hierarchy. The change that was occurred almost simultaneously with the increasing threat in the East Asian region since the end of the Cold War, made as a pretext by PM Abe to reform Japan's defence structure. Based on the two factors, this study seeks to find out how the influence of the pattern of relations between countries in the East Asian security complex can affect the pattern of Japanese civil-military relations. This effort was carried out through the framework of the Huntingtonian civil-military relationship, which was concerned with civil ideology, formal and informal influences, and forms of civil control within the state, supported by the complex concept of security from the Copenhagen School which was concerned with patterns of relations and balance of power. It was found that the increasing instability of the East Asian security complex had prompted PM Abe's Japanese decision-makers to change their civil-military relations, either directly from the perception of the political elites themselves, or indirectly through encouragement from the United States. An increase in regional instability itself will encourage the state to participate in increasing military power, including by making changes to its civil-military relations so that defence policies are more targeted in order to ensure their sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Bahasa Abstract

Sejak Perdana Menteri Shinzo Abe memulai periode kedua kepemimpinannya pada tahun 2012, telah terjadi perubahan yang cukup signifikan dalam posisi militer Jepang dalam hierarki negara. Perubahan yang terjadi hampir bersamaan dengan peningkatan ancaman di kawasan Asia Timur sejak Perang Dingin berakhir tersebut, dijadikan dalih oleh PM Abe untuk mereformasi struktur pertahanan Jepang. Berdasarkan dua hal tersebut, penelitian ini berupaya untuk mencari bagaimana pengaruh dari pola hubungan antarnegara dalam kompleks keamanan Asia Timur dapat memengaruhi pola hubungan sipil-militer Jepang. Upaya itu dilakukan melalui kerangka pemikiran hubungan sipil-militer Huntingtonian, yang hirau terhadap ideologi sipil, pengaruh formal dan informal, serta bentuk kontrol sipil yang ada di dalam negara, didukung dengan konsep kompleks keamanan dari Mazhab Kopenhagen yang hirau terhadap pola hubungan serta balance of power. Ditemukan bahwa peningkatan instabilitas kompleks keamanan Asia Timur telah mendorong para pengambil keputusan Jepang era PM Abe untuk mengubah hubungan sipil-militernya, baik secara langsung dari persepsi elit-elit politik itu sendiri, maupun tidak langsung melalui dorongan dari Amerika Serikat. Peningkatan instabilitas kawasan sendiri akan mendorong negara untuk turut meningkatkan kekuatan militer, termasuk dengan melakukan perubahan pada hubungan sipil-militernya agar kebijakan pertahanan lebih tepat sasaran demi menjamin kedaulatan dan integritas teritorialnya.

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