Closing Futenma was conditioned on building Marines a new Okinawa base.

Evidence

But when the U.S. and Japanese governments signed their 1996 agreement, there was a catch: the military wouldn’t close Futenma until the Japanese government built the Marines a new base. And although most Okinawans expected the replacement would be outside their prefecture, the two governments selected a site on Okinawa’s east coast, near an existing base called Camp Schwab. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 853

Categorization

Category: Causal Relationships

Related

• The promised Futenma closure was conditioned on building another Okinawa base (similarity 0.96)
• Only some Okinawans oppose bases despite wanting Futenma closed. (similarity 0.84)
• Stakeholder benefits from the status quo stall base closures. (similarity 0.82)
• Japan accepted US rule of Okinawa to avoid bases on the mainland. (similarity 0.82)
• The Futenma response agreement produced billions in new US housing funded by Japan. (similarity 0.81)
• Economic dependency forces Okinawa to accept the bases. (similarity 0.81)
• Okinawa bases protect the Marine Corps from existential budget scrutiny (similarity 0.81)
• Okinawan base-realignment promises have largely gone unfulfilled for two decades (similarity 0.79)
• The US announced Okinawa troop reductions while simultaneously increasing local forces (similarity 0.79)
• Okinawa’s Marine force shrank sharply during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars without harm (similarity 0.79)
• Local protest can stop new base construction even when it cannot close existing bases (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• The Futenma replacement base proposal drew cost, safety, and environmental objections. #expands (0.55) — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 854
• Marine Corps bureaucratic survival fears drive its resistance to leaving Okinawa #complicates (0.50) — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 886