GLOBAL AMERICAN DISCOURSE
It would be a mistake for Japan to move towards NATO at this time and in the future. Why? There are many reasons for this warning. Europeans having been kicked out of Asia after WW II are looking for a way to increase their leverage over Asia again. Though NATO has been an advantage for them in thwarting the Soviet Union during the Cold War, there is no longer any need for NATO to provide a shield for Europe. So they are looking to Asia to justify the future existence of NATO by meddling in Asian waters. This will complicate Japan's need to regain the trust of the other Asian nations which was badly damaged by Japanese aggression in the early twentieth century. As the successful attempts to defuse the threat from nuclear weapons in N Korea which resulted from the six-party talks shows, E Asian and other powers in the region (US and Russia) have shown they are quite capable of handling touchy diplomatic relations amongst themselves without European meddling in their affairs. Contrast this with the mess in Iraq and Afghanistan and you will get what I mean when I say the Europeans do not have any special gifts at defusing international disputes. Their record at solving international problems during their superpower status days in the early twentieth century also is a poor testimonial to their so-called "talents" at solving international disputes.
As you mention, Europeans are self-critical to their past imperialism. Japanese have somewhat common sentiments.
However, it is very important that the end of the Cold War and subsequent globalization did not lead to disappearance of nation state and supranational global governance.
Instead, the rise of Russo-Chinese authoritarian powers and peril of Islamic radical pose critical threat to our liberal world order, as I mention in this post.
Also, a partnership with NATO is an advantage for Japan's Asia-Pacific diplomacy. For example, South Koreans are obsessed with bilateral history. But in multilateral security cooperation with American and European allies, both Japanese and South Koreans will understand that it is not a high-priority issue. Japanese and South Koreans have a common enemy, which is North Korea, of course.
In any case, it is apparent that Europeans will never re-conquer Asia, and just send troops for world peace.
Frankly, I don't think the Europeans are looking for world peace. Look at the Middle East. What a mess. Israel was created by the European powers after WW II, because of what the Nazis had done to the European jewry and there was a desperate need to find a homeland. After WW I which arguably was fought among the European powers to free the Arabs from domination by the Turks but which fell into European hands because of the treachery of the Sykes-Picot secret treaty between France and Britain, the Middle East has been in turmoil ever since to this day. How can such a people as the Europeans who have created the unstable world that we inhabit today, be called or considered to be peaceful much less peace-loving? Don't fall for the propaganda that Europeans have put out for centuries to distort our understanding and the true knowledge that we desperately need.
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