Strengthening the US-Japan alliance

The deterioration of the strategic environment in the Indo-Pacific region is causing the US-Japan alliance to regain its value, given the need to increase its deterrence capacity, thus responding to the threat posed by both the People's Republic of China and North Korea or the Russian Federation. Recently, the US president and the Japanese prime minister held a meeting in Washington in which they highlighted the need to continue strengthening the relationship between their respective countries, interoperability and collaboration between the US Armed Forces and the US Self-Defense Forces. Japan and, also, to send a signal to Beijing and Pyongyang, something that could be done, among other things, by placing a four-star general - he currently holds the position one of three - at the head of the US forces deployed in Japanese territory.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. The US-Japan alliance
3. Japan and the strategic evolution of the Indo-Pacific region
4. New horizons for the US-Japan alliance
5. Conclusions

Introduction

Over the past three years, the US-Japan alliance has reached an unprecedented height. We reached this historic moment because our nations, individually and together, decided to take great steps to strengthen our collective capacity in ways that would have seemed impossible just a few years ago.

Joe Biden

With these statements he opened the joint statement published last April 10, just after President Joe Biden's meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, in the White House. Given the rapid evolution and deterioration of the strategic situation in the Indo-Pacific region, both countries have committed to taking another important step in their defensive alliance, which was born seven decades ago. During their meeting, both leaders committed to continue advancing military cooperation, emphasizing the development of joint capabilities and the improvement of relations and interoperability between their armed forces, as well as other aspects related to cyberspace or outer space. .

The decision to give new impetus to the US-Japan alliance responds to a clear interest in strengthening its deterrence capacity and confronting the threat posed by the People's Republic of China, although not only, since it also takes into account the other countries like North Korea (with its program both nuclear and missiles) and Russia. Understanding the growing value that their alliance and the announcements regarding new steps have for Washington and Tokyo, however, forces us to consider both the background of their cooperation and some of the obstacles to it. Thus, along the following lines we review: 1) the evolution of cooperation between both countries since its beginnings; 2) some of the aspects that have contributed to deteriorating the strategic landscape in the Indo-Pacific and, also; 3) the most notable points of the last meeting held by the two Japanese and American leaders in Washington, including the announcements made regarding new steps to strengthen their collaboration.

The US-Japan alliance

The current US-Japan alliance dates back to the period after the end of World War II. After the Emperor accepted the unconditional surrender of Japan and once the period of North American occupation of the Japanese archipelago was concluded - after the Treaty of San Francisco came into force - (it would officially end on April 28, 1952), both countries faced a new challenge that would end up marking their future relationship: that represented by the Soviet Union.

As a consequence of the need both to contain the USSR in the Far East, and to anchor Japan to what was called the "Free World", the “Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between Japan and the United States”, supported by the desire of both states to promote greater economic cooperation and the recognition that “they have an inherent right of individual or collective self-defense.” Thus, among other things, said treaty (in force since June 23, 1960) defines the commitment of both to maintain and develop their capabilities when defending themselves from an armed attack through continuous and effective mutual aid (Art . 3), forcing the United States to defend the Japanese country if it is attacked by a third party (Art. 5).

Just like says the US State DepartmentSince its inception, the US-Japan alliance "has served as the cornerstone of peace, stability and freedom in the Indo-Pacific region." Since its signing, the aforementioned cooperation treaty has become the basis of a close relationship that has been reinforced in recent decades by the rise of China as a regional power and its revisionist aspirations in the Indo Pacific. These changes have also led Japan to progressively modify its traditional, purely defensive military posture. As Augusto Conte pointed out at the beginning of 2023 in an article about Japan's new Security Strategy, published on these same pages:

“While Tokyo is thinking about equipping itself with counterattack capabilities under a national security strategy that seeks a more assertive regional role, in a recent statement from Anthony J. Blinken, Secretary of State of the United States, he explained that both countries are converging by recognizing closer links. “close ties between both nations, like-minded and fundamental to protecting interests and addressing shared challenges.”

In addition to the above, with the signature of the Guides for Defense Cooperation between Japan and the United States (known as “the guides”) in 2015, both actors strengthened their commitment to promoting the exchange of information and the establishment of mutual understanding on the evolution of events in the region. That said, currently, security cooperation between both countries is made up of several lines of work, among which should be highlighted:

• Ballistic Missile Defense: Japan began work on the production of SM-3 Block IIA missiles in 2006, strengthening its defensive capabilities in response to the proliferation of its neighbors China and North Korea's arsenal. In 2017, the intention to deploy an Aegis missile defense system on land (Aegis Ashore) was announced, but the project was finally canceled in 2020. Its Maritime Self-Defense Force has eight destroyers already in service equipped with the Aegis system (four Kongo classTwo Atago class and two Mayan class). Additionally, Lockheed Martin recently announced the successful testing of the AN/SPY-7 radar, with which it will provide two other 12.000-ton destroyers, scheduled to be delivered in 2027 and 2028.
• Cyberspace: Both countries have had various meetings in recent years to discuss measures to strengthen their capacities in terms of deterrence the “fifth domain”, including the development of cyber countermeasures and increasing awareness of these issues. The eighth “US-Japan Cyber ​​Dialogue” took place in May 2023, reaffirming the need to continue work on cybersecurity at the national and international level.
• Outer space: As with cybersecurity, both countries began holding the “Comprehensive Dialogue on Space” and the “Space Security Dialogue” in 2018. Additionally, in 2023, both countries signed a framework agreement on “cooperation in space exploration and the use of outer space,” also including lunar exploration and other celestial bodies.
• Maritime Safety: Finally, one of the areas that has gained greater prominence during the last decade, as a consequence of Beijing's growing assertiveness in the region, is maritime security. Both Japan and the United States have shown on numerous occasions their rejection of the ambiguity of China's maritime activities, which usually go beyond the limits of the territorial waters of neighboring countries. with many of whom it maintains open disputes regarding the possession of certain islands and islets. In recent years, Japan has been increasing the size and capabilities of its submarine and surface fleets, with additions such as the Sōryū and Taigei class attack submarines, or the Mogami-class frigates.

These and other areas of cooperation between both countries have been strengthening at a faster rate in recent years, as a consequence of geopolitical evolution in the region. Added to this has also been the participation of both in multilateral initiatives such as the Quadrilateral Dialogue (QUAD) about which Sara Álvarez already wrote, also in these pages, back in 2020.

Japan and the strategic evolution of the Indo-Pacific region

As is well known, since the end of the Second World War, Japan enacted with article nine of its constitution the renunciation of war as a sovereign right of the nation and the use of force as a means of resolving its international disputes. As a result, the Japanese nation renounced the maintenance of its conventional military forces, of which it has only retained a minimal part under the name of “Self-Defense Forces.” However, the rise of China as a regional power for several decades now, and as a global power in recent years, has led Japan to gradually modify its national posture regarding military power and its Self-Defense Forces, increasingly powerful and capable, even in the offensive field.

(Keep reading…) Dear reader, this article is exclusively for paying users. If you want access to the full text, you can subscribe to Ejércitos Magazine taking advantage of our offer for new subscribers through the following link.