"Ishibashi shows a sophisticated command of two very different political systems Japan and Germany in her careful analysis of why the two countries varied in their level of support for their US ally in the 2003 Iraq War. She offers a detailed process tracing of the decisions linked to an alliance theory fear of entrapment, usefully updating and building upon ... Read morethe path-breaking work of Thomas Berger's seminal comparative study of both countries' 'cultures of antimilitarism.'" Andrew L. Oros, associate professor of Political Science and International Studies, Washington College "Ishibashi's volume is one of the first to systematically compare the operation of the key concept of the security dilemma across two states, here Japan and Germany. In so doing, with its comprehensive theoretical and empirical analysis, this work makes important contributions to alliance theory and our understanding of Japanese and German postwar security policy. It deserves to be essential reading alongside other existing comparative studies of these two states' security policies, but in certain aspects supersedes these by bringing new insights into the analysis through examining regional security environments, alliance institutions, and the nature of military organizations." Chris Hughes, professor of International Politics and Japanese Studies and head of the Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick Show Less