EVENTS

Date:	Thursday, November 20, 2008
Time:	2:00 PM -- 3:30 PM
Location:	Wohlstetter Conference Center, Twelfth Floor, AEI 1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036

New AEI Report Calls for Closer U.S.-Japanese Military Ties, Recognition of Shared Values

WASHINGTON, NOVEMBER 25, 2008--Promoting liberalization in the Asia-Pacific region and enhancing bilateral military cooperation between the United States and Japan should be the twin priorities of the two countries' half-century-old alliance, according to a new report from the American Enterprise Institute: Securing Freedom: The U.S.-Japanese Alliance in a New Era.

At a conference on November 20, AEI resident scholar Michael Auslin and former AEI fellow Christopher Griffin, now a defense adviser to Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-D-Conn.), highlighted the success of the U.S.-Japanese alliance in ensuring peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. To ensure that the next fifty years--and beyond--will see similar times, they argued, the United States and Japan must promote political and economic liberalization and enhance military cooperation in missile defense, air superiority, maritime security, and strike operations. The other panelists agreed that the report's clearly defined vision may be indispensable in guiding the future of the alliance.

Richard Lawless, reflecting on his experience as former deputy undersecretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Affairs from 2002 to 2007, called Securing Freedom a "timely and comprehensive effort." Lawless noted the bifurcated nature of the alliance, in which Japan is constitutionally prohibited from participating in collective defense operations, and he asserted that there is an increasing need for joint planning.

Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright (U.S. Air Force, retired), the former commander of U.S. forces in Japan, echoed Auslin and Griffin in recommending strengthened interoperability and pointing out the need to respond within the alliance to mounting challenges and potential threats.
Sak Sakoda of Armitage International argued that "this type of work, focusing on shared values and a future vision for the alliance, is not done enough." He emphasized how crucial coordination in formulating security policy is, especially when taking into account the United States' overall "Asia strategy" and the domestic mood in Japan.

The panelists agreed that Japan's constitutional ban on collective self-defense--which restricts Japan's security policy and prohibits it from coming to the defense of the United States--is a serious impediment to the alliance. Without pressuring Japan to make changes to its constitution before it has achieved a domestic consensus on the issue, the United States should point out the costs of inaction in East Asia's tense security environment, where North Korea pursues its nuclear ambitions and China continues to modernize its military.

The panelists said that the fact that the alliance has not been activated militarily in the last fifty years testifies to its success in harnessing the United States and Japan's shared values of democracy, free markets, and transparency to promote peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region. But the alliance's ability to function well in a conflict underwrites this continued growth in the region. Increased military cooperation, as proposed in Securing Freedom, is vital to keep U.S.-Japanese relations thriving and make Asia freer and more prosperous.

--LESLIE FORGACH

For video, audio, and more information about this event, visit www.aei.org/event1840/. To read Securing Freedom, visit www.aei.org/publication28956/.

For more information about AEI scholars' work on Asia and the Pacific Rim, visit www.aei.org/asia/.

For media inquiries, contact Véronique Rodman at 202.862.4870 or vrodman@aei.org.

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