When Identity Matters: State Identity, Regional Institution-Building, and Japanese Foreign Policy1

Abstract

Over the last decade, the international relations field witnessed a surge in literature dealing with the concept of identity, a trend that is likely to continue. At the same time, the multi-directional focus of the current identity literature, together with the rather loose application of the term “identity”, leaves some observers sceptical about the validity and utility of identity as an analytical concept. With this backdrop, the article seeks to articulate an essential mechanism by which identity functions as a source of a state's foreign policy: A concept of state identity generates a specific value (a pro attitude toward a certain kind of action), which in turn determines a state's preference for a particular foreign policy option. This causal mechanism is then demonstrated by the empirical analysis of Japan's foreign policy toward post-Cold War regional institution-building. Further, by placing the identity mechanism within the value-action framework of general foreign policy, the study raises concern about the conditions by which identity becomes a prominent factor, that is to say when identity matters. Along this line, the study highlights the context-dependent and versatile natures of identity's function, and therefore, it cautions against overly deterministic approaches toward the role of identity in foreign policy and international relations.