Japan’s Contemporary Approach to Foreign Policy Aligns With Its Strategic National Interests: A Case Study of United Nations Mission in South Sudan

This essay assesses UNMISS as a case study of Japan’s foreign policy which is being implemented in order to fulfill its strategic national interests. In order to trace these interests firstly, it analyzes UNMISS as Japan’s tool to attain the international power; secondly, as an economic strategy to secure its access to the oil and other critical natural resources in Africa; and thirdly as a political strategy to outweigh China’s strategic influence in the region. Before assessing these three different strategic interests, this essay describes Japanese peacekeepers’ activities in a way to consolidate peace in post-conflict South-Sudan