Human Rights and Democracy in Japan's Dialogue with Myanmar: Universality of Human Rights and a Country-based Dialogue Approach in Japan's Human Rights Foreign Policy

Abstract: Dialogue (対話) plays an important role not only in diplomatic relations between Myanmar and Japan, but also in Japan’s human rights foreign policy. This thesis analyzes how Japan uses a dialogue approach as part of Japan’s human rights foreign policy in Myanmar. It discusses the characteristics of Japan’s dialogue approach and its possible correlations with human rights and democracy in Myanmar. The questions will be explored from historical dialogues between Myanmar and Japan during the Second World War to ongoing dialogues in a case of The Gambia v. Myanmar. By using discourse analysis, the thesis sheds light on human rights rhetoric in Japan’s human rights foreign policy, the Development Cooperation Charter, The Basic Policy of Japan’s Assistance to Myanmar, government documents as well as in exclusive dialogues between Myanmar and Japan. Qualitative interviews and the Policy Cycle are juxtaposed with the discourse analysis to articulate interactions of people and empirical implementations of Japan’s dialogue approach in the human rights foreign policy.