Beyond ‘revisionism and status quo’: Japanese political party discourse on ‘international order’ and ‘Ukraine’

Abstract

This article critiques debates in International Relations (IR) on revisionism and contestation of ‘international order’. It argues that these are overfocused on a binary view of ‘revisionism’ and ‘status quo’ and shows how ‘contestation’ takes place within ‘status quo’ states discursively. To this end, it uses the case of Japanese party-political discourses on ‘Ukraine’ and ‘international order’. Conducting a discourse analysis of election manifestos from 2022, it shows how the Japanese parties seldom reproduce the internationally widespread story of the international order being under threat in Ukraine, instead connecting ‘Ukraine’ and ‘international order’ to issues of significance in domestic Japanese politics, such as remilitarisation and opposition to nuclear weapons. This constitutes an example of how the latter is discursively contested by the former even in what has been called a ‘status quo’ state. Moreover, these are ways that do not conform to those commonly associated with ‘revisionist’ states and actors.