More About the Project

“Where do we go from here?” is not often a question you’ll find at the conclusion of a story. But at the end of the long saga that was the Cold War—which had shaped and sustained the U.S.-Japan alliance since its inception—this is exactly what U.S. and Japanese officials asked themselves. This resource helps explain their answer as it has evolved over twenty-five years.

At the outset, grand rhetoric of a new Global Partnership and Common Agenda to address a wide range of international challenges belied an atmosphere of economic competition that marginalized cooperation efforts. Still, new relationships formed, working-level coordination found opportunities to be productive, and a culture of bilateral collaboration solidified.

Today, with trade frictions largely gone, the allies have listed common strategic objectives and outlined areas for greater U.S.-Japan cooperation going forward, such as technology, space exploration, energy, climate change, development, and cyberspace. These are some of the most complex and pressing modern global issues, and the United States and Japan need to cooperate to tackle them. Understanding what the alliance has accomplished—and where it has stumbled—is crucial to maximize the potential benefit from expanding cooperation in the future.

This resource was last updated on January 11, 2017.

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