Japan has consistently been pursuing the goal of a permanent UN Security Council seat for 30 years. The book investigates the motives for this ambition, and how it has been pursued domestically and internationally. It is therefore a study of the inner workings of the Japanese Foreign Ministry as well as of the country''s underdeveloped multinational diplomacy.

Japan has consistently been pursuing the goal of a permanent UN Security Council seat for 30 years. The book investigates the motives for this ambition, and how it has been pursued domestically and internationally. It is therefore a study of the inner workings of the Japanese Foreign Ministry as well as of the country''s underdeveloped multinational diplomacy.