The Merits of Alliance: A Japanese Perspective—Logic Underpins Japan’s Global and Regional Security Role

Abstract

For the past six decades, relations between Japan and the United States of America have been conducted in the shadow of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security (Japan-U.S. Security Treaty) signed on January 19, 1960. According to the bilateral alliance, the United States plays a role in the defense of Japan, while Japan allows the United States to maintain military bases on Japanese soil to facilitate the forward deployment of U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific.