U.S. and Japan Must Address Key Issues to Maintain Strong Alliance in Light of China's Rise, Say Experts in New CNAS Study
Washington, April 27, 2012 — The U.S.-Japan alliance is the cornerstone of peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region, but it will confront difficult challenges between now and 2025 that could greatly affect its future. In The China Challenge: Military, Economic and Energy Choices Facing the U.S.-Japan Alliance, released today by the Center for a New American Security in advance of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's visit to the United States, four experts argue that the United States and Japan must address a host of defense, economic and energy security issues over the next decade if the alliance is to maintain its power as China continues to rise.
Download The China Challenge: Military, Economic and Energy Choices Facing the U.S.-Japan Alliance.
Authors Dr. Patrick Cronin, Zachary Hosford and Daniel Katz of CNAS and Paul Giarra of Global Strategies and Transformation make the following concrete recommendations for the alliance that will help the two nations build an even stronger alliance over the coming decade:
- Launch a new, high-level strategic dialogue to reassess the ends, ways and means of the alliance, beginning with its basic objectives;
- Seek the long-term integration of a rising China into a global and regional security architecture, including through a high-level trilateral security dialogue;
- Elevate the importance of energy security within the alliance, in part by creating - in conjunction with China - a major trilateral dialogue on energy security;
- Work with allies and partners to incorporate energy security into the Trans-Pacific Partnership;
- Engage emerging economies, such as China, through trade and investment to maximize employment and growth opportunities in the United States and Japan;
- Prepare to defeat anti-access and area-denial capabilities of potential adversaries; and
- Plan for the gradual integration of all U.S. bases in Japan with those of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces.
The authors conclude that "Whether a powerful U.S.-Japan alliance will endure into the next decade and beyond chiefly depends on how well Washington and Tokyo deal with major military, economic and energy challenges. Although each dimension of power is complex, basic policy choices will require coming to grips with the challenge and opportunity posed by a rising China."
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