The Diplomat author Mercy Kuo regularly engages subject-matter experts, policy practitioners and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into U.S. Asia policy. This conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Hornung – Japan Lead at the National Security Research Division, senior political scientist at RAND Corporation, and co-author of the RAND report “U.S.-Japan Alliance Under New Management” – is the 486th in “The Trans-Pacific View Insight Series.”

Identify vectors of continuity and change in Japan-U.S. security and economic relations.

There are several areas of continuity in the U.S.-Japan alliance that often go unnoticed. In the economic domain, Japan continues to play a role as a guardian of the free and open Indo-Pacific order while advocating for formal multilateral initiatives, like the CPTPP [Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership]. And while the United States continues to eschew participation in the CPTPP, as it has for years, it does continue to champion many of the same issues that Japan does. The U.S. and Japan work together in several of these areas. This includes supply chain resilience, de-risking economies, and looking to partner with like-minded countries in critical technology sectors.

In the security domain, the two continue to prioritize the alliance and partnership with one another as a means to counterbalance and deter Ch