Number: RL33740
Title: The Changing U.S.-Japan Alliance: Implications for U.S. Interests
Authors: Emma Chanlett-Avery, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division 
Abstract: After an historical review, this report examines policy changes that have driven actual and proposed shifts in the alliance. Key features of the proposals include a reduction in the number of U.S. Marines in Japan, the relocation of a controversial Marine air base in Okinawa, expanded cooperation in training and intelligence sharing, and command structure changes. The proposed changes would create new roles and missions in the alliance, with an emphasis on interoperability, joint missile defense, and more Japanese participation in international operations. This report outlines some of the most prominent operational, budgetary, legal, and societal challenges to upgrading the alliance. The dynamic nature of the alliance and the strategic environment in northeast Asia present a number of challenges for U.S. policy, including containing North Korea's nuclear ambitions, dealing with a rising China, sustaining the political alignment with Tokyo, managing the U.S.-South Korea relationship, and considering the nuclear future of the region. The report concludes with a number of potential options for U.S. policymakers to protect U.S. security interests in the Asia Pacific. Those options include further bolstering Japan's military, reducing the U.S military presence in the region, encouraging Japan to focus on international peacekeeping and reconstruction operations, developing trilateral defense cooperation, creating a security forum in northeast Asia, and mediating conflicts over Asian history issues.
Pages: 23
Date: January 10, 2008