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
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
U.S.-Japan Approaches to Democracy Promotion
Author: Daniel Bob, Michael Auslin, Larry Diamond, David J. Kramer, Yasunobu Sato, Tsuneo Akaha, David I. Steinberg, Aung Din, Richard C. Kraemer, Mitsugi Endo
March 24, 2017
Cooperation to support democratic development should be an important component of the U.S.-Japan Alliance, and this volume is intended both to endorse it and to propose practical measures for both countries to take.
Tags: democracy, Democracy Support, democratic transition, foreign policy, us-japan cooperation
Commentary & Analysis
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
Strategic Distraction: America, China, and Japan in the 21st Century Competitive Space
Author: Sharon Burke, Senior Advisor and Program Director, New America
Categories: Sasakawa USA Alumni
The Honorable Sharon Burke participated in the Sasakawa USA 2017-2018 In-Depth Alumni Research Trip to Japan. In this paper, Burke posits that Japan–playing to its strengths as a security builder–has an opportunity to improve global readiness for the great security challenges of the later part of this century, not all of which are military in nature.
Tags: Belt and Road Initiative, China, cybersecurity, foreign policy, Japan, military, North Korea, security, South China Sea, us-japan alliance, us-japan relations
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