Armitage correct on collective self-defense.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun/Daily Yomiuri)

Armitage correct on collective self-defense

Hisahiko Okazaki Special to The Yomiuri Shimbun

Yomiuri

Richard Armitage is leaving his post in the U.S. administration as deputy secretary of state. It is not yet known what he will do in the long term after his resignation, but he seems to be planning to stay out of public life for the time being.

His contributions to improving Japan-U.S. relations date back to the era of President Ronald Reagan's administration, but I would like to focus on his achievements in the area of bilateral ties over the past four years.

This time, his endeavors started with the so-called Armitage report titled "The United States and Japan: Advancing toward a mature partnership," which was released in October 2000 and postulated a new security agenda for the Japan-U.S. alliance. Armitage prefers to call it the Nye-Armitage report, emphasizing that it was a bipartisan policy proposal.

When the report was issued, Democratic candidate Al Gore and then Republican candidate George W. Bush were neck-and-neck in the polls. It was too close to call who would prevail in the presidential election that would be held a month later. The report was jointly compiled by Armitage, some fellow Republicans and a group of Democrats that included Joseph Nye and Kurt Campbell, …