Japan’s Diplomats in the League Council: The Challenge of Managing Power and Ideals in the Pacific Settlement of Disputes

Abstract

This chapter examines the role of Japanese diplomats in the development of the League of Nations Council, as it evolved into the main executive body for creating the international norm of the pacific resolution of international disputes and disseminating and implementing the idea of collective legitimacy. It starts by tracing their activities through the development of the League’s institutional foundations in the 1920s, when the Council established the rapporteur system and strengthened its capacity to resolve conflicts. At that time, the Japanese government maintained a relatively passive attitude toward supporting efforts to strengthen institutional frameworks and revise the Covenant. It then looks at how the diplomats faced a deepening dilemma as their government’s expansionist foreign policy collided with the attempt of the Council to further consolidate its norm-making position. Although the commitment of the Japanese diplomats to the ideals of the League was recognized by their international colleagues in the organization, it ultimately became unsustainable with the invasion of Manchuria in September 1931. The conclusion discusses what lessons were learned from this experience, both by the diplomats and for the formation of norms by international organizations in the longer term.