竹下内閣と国連平和維持活動

Discussions on the dispatch of Japanese personnel to UN Peace-keeping missions generally begin, with the Gulf Crisis of 1990 and the dispatch to Cambodia of 1992. In fact, however, Japanese contributions did not begin with the sudden end of the Cold War. They go back to the “International Cooperation Initiative” of the Takeshita cabinet that was founded upon three pillars, including the contribution of financial support and dispatch of personnel for settlement of regional conflicts. Based on this policy, the UNTAG dispatch may be considered the first full-scale dispatch of personnel due to the temporary nature of the transfers to UNGOMAP and UNIMOG.<br>In this report, I seek to clarify, using newly released MOFA documents, the policy making process of the Japanese government regarding the dispatch of election observers to UNTAG, a subject which has heretofore received little analysis. I will also make clear the limitations inherent in the MOFA initiatives. In order to throw into relief the political conditions regarding the UNTAG dispatch, I will devote particular attention to the activities of Prime Minister Takeshita and the MOFA authorities directly in charge on this occasion.<br>Although MOFA which agreed to the “International Co-operation Initiative” of Takeshita, was not able to accomplish a Self-Defense Force (SDF) dispatch, establish relevant legislation and a human resources pool organization, effective use of a postponement technique paradoxically allowed the dispatch to UNTAG to be realized. Such realization of the civilian dispatch to UNTAG was only a provisional step, however, and MOFA needed two phases of technique to realize SDF dispatch after the civilian dispatch.<br>During MOFA's attempt to realize the Takeshita initiative using this postponement technique, the project to dispatch election observers to UNTAG got somewhat ahead of itself, and measures to ensure their safety of were deemed insufficient. Although Minister for Foreign Affairs Sousuke Uno pointed out in discussions with National Governor's Association chairperson shunichi Suzuki that “bullets won't be flying,” the gun battles which had already broken out in Namibia rendered such optimistic assessments untenable. Actually, however, though the local situation was unstable just before holding the constitution parliamentary election, the above-mentioned optimistic prospect of Uno was maintained throughout. As for the government, its response to these circumstances were remarkable for their inflexibility.<br>In 1992, the SDF dispatch that MOFA had always aimed at was finally realized. Meanwhile, establishment of relevant legislation and a human resources pool organization are still in postponement. The contribution to UNTAG under the Takeshita administration was the first step in establishing the postponement mode in Japan.