CNAS Hosts Two-Day Conference on U.S.-Japan Alliance

On June 17 and June 18, The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) hosted a two-day conference, 150 Years of Amity & 50 Years of Alliance: Adopting an Enhanced Agenda for the U.S.-Japan Partnership, in partnership with the Nippon Foundation, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, and the Ocean Policy Research Foundation - that brought together leading American and Japanese policymakers and experts to discuss the military, economic, political, and strategic elements of this critical alliance.

With the recent resignation of Prime Minister Hatoyama and an upcoming election in July, the future U.S.-Japan alliance has become increasingly complex. In addition to these challenges inside Japan, the alliance, which has served as a pillar of stability in East Asia for 50 years, now confronts an international landscape characterized by the rise of China and India, growing regionalism in Asia, new challenges to the openness of the global commons, and natural security threats like climate change and resource scarcities. To remain relevant for the next fifty years, the Alliance must evolve while addressing these pertinent issues.

Featured speakers included: Richard Armitage, former Deputy Secretary of State and member of the CNAS Board of Directors; Joseph Nye, University Distinguished Service Professor, Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government; Patrick Cronin, Senior Advisor and Senior Director of the Asia Program, CNAS; Robert Kaplan, Senior Fellow, CNAS; Abraham Denmark, Fellow, CNAS; Yoichi Funabashi, Editor-in-Chief, Asahi Shimbun; Kazuya Sakamoto, Professor, Osaka University; Michael Green, Senior Advisor and Japan Chair, CSIS; Victor Cha, Senior Advisor and Korea Chair, CSIS; G. John Ikenberry, Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University; Yohei Sasakawa, Chairman of the Nippon Foundation; Akira Iriye, Professor Emeritus at Harvard University; Yukio Satoh, Vice Chairman, Japan Institute for International Affairs; and more.

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The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) is an independent and nonpartisan research institution that develops strong, pragmatic and principled national security and defense policies that promote and protect American interests and values. CNAS leads efforts to help inform and prepare the national security leaders of today and tomorrow.