Center for a New American Security

According to a policy brief released today by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) ahead of its two day conference on the future of the U.S.-Japan partnership, the United States and Japan have a historic opportunity to renew their 50-year-old alliance. Report authors Abe Denmark and Dan Kliman write, "With the new Japanese prime minister in place and an agreement on the contentious relocation of a U.S. military base on Okinawa reached, Washington and Tokyo are poised to put past disagreements behind them and to prepare the alliance for the challenges of the 21st century."

The policy brief, Cornerstone: A Future Agenda for the U.S.-Japan Alliance, sets the stage for the two day CNAS conference June 17-18, 2010.  Cornerstone surveys the nine months of political transition in Japan (from the Liberal Democratic Party to the Democratic Party of Japan) that began last August, a tumultuous period that has culminated in an opportunity to move the alliance forward. It then discusses how to get the fundamentals of the alliance right. Lastly, it sets forth an agenda for enhancing U.S.-Japan security cooperation.