White House Deal with Japan Risks Military Capability in Asia heritage.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from heritage.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The U.S.-Japan alliance remains crucial, but it is underperformingand weaker than generally perceived. A failure by America's leadersto understand, appreciate, and take necessary transformativemeasures raises the risk of crises in Asia and around the world.There are issues that could easily lead to a stagnant allianceunable to adapt to a rapidly changing Asian security environment.
Two factors have driven the debate over the planned U.S. military realignment in Japan: campaign pledges made by the Democratic Party of Japan and complaints from Okinawans about the presence of the U.S. military. These factors have had a particularly strong impact on efforts to preserve the Marine Corps Air Station on Okinawa. However, other critical factors national interests, regional threats, and the U.S.–Japan alliance’s military requirements are absent from the discussion over the station’s scheduled relocation from Futenma to a more remote locale. The Obama Administration should continue to press Japan for implementation of the military realignment agreement. It is past time for Tokyo to jettison its passive consensus-building approach and take more assertive steps.