Reports
China and 5G: Tumult in 2018
Author: William "Bud" Roth
Categories: Cyber beat, Cybersecurity
Recent moves by Five Eyes countries to ban Huawei equipment from future 5G networks has become a major point of contention in the growing trade war between China and the United States.
Tags: 5G, China, cybersecurity, Huawei, trade war
Testing the U.S.-Japan and U.S.-ROK Security Alliances
Author: Admiral Michael McDevitt
Categories: Tabletop Exercise
Tabletop Exercise Pacific Trident II was the second Sasakawa USA tabletop exercise (TTX) exploring trilateral cooperation mechanisms between the United States, Japan, and South Korea in the context of a crisis in North Korea. This report summarizes the exercise, its policy-level insights, and its final recommendations to policymakers in the United States, ROK, and Japan.
Tags: DPRK, Japan, North Korea, Pacific Trident, security, Tabletop Exercise, U.S.-Asia, us-japan alliance, us-japan relations
Books
The New National Defense Program Guidelines: Aligning U.S. and Japanese Defense Strategies for the Third Post-Cold War Era
Author: Dr. Sayuri Romei, Mr. James Schoff, Dr. Eric Heginbotham, Lt. Gen. Koichi Isobe (ret.), Mr. Masanori Nishi, Mr. Kaleb Redden, Ms. Nina Wagner
In The New National Defense Program Guidelines: Aligning U.S. and Japanese Defense Strategies for the Third Post-Cold War Era, a bilateral group of Japanese and American scholars and former defense officials examine the policy implications of the new NDPG. In a collection of papers, they analyze the global changes in the post-Cold War security environment that stimulated adjustments to Japan’s defense policy, identify the common challenges faced by the two allies, and emphasize the opportunities for cooperation between the United States and Japan.
Tags: Abe, Japan, national defense program guidelines, NDPG, security, Shinzo Abe, us-japan alliance
Japan’s Energy Conundrum
Author: Phyllis Genther Yoshida, Dennis Blair, Robert Alan Feldman, Ken Koyama, Jane Nakano, Llewelyn Hughes, Nobuo Tanaka, Yukari Niwa Yamashita, Michael Smitka, Ken Haig, Jun Arima, Tom Cutler
Sasakawa USA is pleased to bring together an outstanding group of senior scholars, all with extensive knowledge and experience, to analyze and explain the many facets of Tokyo’s energy situation and its intersection with the U.S.-Japan relationship. Japan’s Energy Conundrum provides insights into how Japan is seeking to resolve its current energy conundrum in the aftermath of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.
Tags: energy, Fukushima, Japan, Nuclear, security, us-japan alliance, us-japan relations
Commentary & Analysis
Japan Should Take a Leadership Role to Address Climate Change: Ambitions for G-20 Action
Author: Dr. Phyllis Genther Yoshida, Senior Fellow for Energy and Technology, Sasakawa USA
Categories: Energy and Technology
Dr. Phyllis Genther Yoshida is the Senior Fellow for Energy and Technology at Sasakawa USA. In this Commentary, she advocates for Japan to take on a greater global leadership role in fighting climate change. In particular, she sees a role for Japan by demonstrating decoupling domestically and internationally, which to a large extent, means decarbonizing the energy and transportation sectors while providing expanded economic opportunities and energy access.
Tags: Abe, climate change, energy, g20, Japan, Shinzo Abe, us-japan alliance, us-japan relations
Japan’s pacifism and America’s gun culture: Views from a Global Classmates Summit participant
Author: Shun Wetlesen
Categories: Sasakawa USA Blog
Author’s note from Shun Wetlesen, a freshman studying at Pacific University: “I am half-Japanese and half-American which has resulted in my strong interest in U.S-Japan relations. This summer I was selected to participate in the Global Classmates Summit, held in Washington, D.C. from July 26 to August 4.” The Global Classmates Summit is a ten-day
Tags: article 9, Global Classmates, Global Classmates Summit, gun culture debate, Japan, Kizuna Across Cultures, Pacifism
Issue Briefs
Japan’s Demographic Challenge
Underlying Japan’s long-term economic struggles is profound demographic change. With a combination of low birthrates and the world’s longest life expectancy, Japan’s population is rapidly greying and shrinking. This demographic revolution has already had significant effects on macroeconomic conditions and consumption patterns as well as the health of the social safety net. It has dramatically affected communities outside of Japan’s major cities, because rural areas have aged faster than the country as a whole, threatening their future viability. It may also be forcing Japan to update its immigration and family policies to limit the impact of demographic change.
Tags: birth rate, declining workforce, demographics, issue briefs, Japan, population, population decline
Collective Self-Defense
The right of “collective self-defense” was enshrined in Article 51 of the 1945 United Nations Charter. It refers to the right of all UN countries to use military force to defend other member nations from attack. It has provided the basis for all UN-authorized military operations, from the Korean War onwards.
Tags: article 9, China, Collective Self-Defense, Defense, defense guidelines, issue briefs, Japan, LDP, Shinzo Abe, South Korea, us-japan relationship