The US—Japan Alliance

Abstract

This chapter seeks to show that the US—Japan alliance has moved from a focus on balance of power during the Cold War to a greater management of power role in the post-Cold War period, particularly in terms of operations, policy, capabilities, and US posture. Like NATO, the US—Japan alliance was designed as the linchpin of America’s regional strategy of containment against the Soviet Union during the Cold War; it has since demonstrated signs of becoming a “global” alliance. The US—Japan case also serves to demonstrate that management of power is indeed a structural or systemic phenomenon — that is, generalizable across post-Cold US alliances — rather than being a unique phenomenon applicable only to NATO with its accompanying historical and geographical baggage. The chapter concludes with some thoughts about the future of the alliance, particularly given Asia-Pacific power dynamics.KeywordsSecurity CouncilJapanese GovernmentLiberal Democratic PartySecurity GuaranteeMissile DefenseThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.