Shifting Security Landscape: U.S.-Japan Defense Relations

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The U.S.-Japan alliance has played a central role in maintaining peace and stability in the Asian region for decades. Today, a shifting security landscape, including China’s rise, North Korea’s ongoing missile development, Russia’s expanded military presence, and increasing U.S. pressure for allies to take greater responsibility for their own defense, is prompting a reassessment of the alliance’s future. Japan has approved a record defense budget for fiscal year 2025 totaling 9.9 trillion yen (approximately 70 billion dollars), equivalent to 1.8 percent of GDP, with plans to increase defense spending to two percent of GDP by 2027. What lies ahead for U.S.-Japan defense relations? Will the alliance evolve significantly, or continue along its current trajectory? This program brings together experts to explore the evolving global security environment, the future of the U.S.-Japan alliance, and Japan’s expanding role.

Agenda
6:30-7:30pm     Discussion and Q&A

Admission
This is a free event, with advance registration required. The program will be live-streamed through YouTube, and registrants will receive the viewing link by email the day before the event.

Speaker Bios
Dr. Ken Jimbo is a Professor of International Relations at Keio University and a Managing Director of Programs at the International House of Japan (IHJ/I-House).  He is concurrently an adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the Canon Institute for Global Studies (CIGS).  He served as a Special Advisor to the Minister of Defense, Japan Ministry of Defense (2020) and Senior Advisor to the National Security Secretariat (2018-20). His main research interests are in International Security, Japan-US Security Relations, and Japan’s Foreign and Defense Policy. He has been a policy advisor for various Japanese governmental commissions and research groups, including the National Security Secretariat, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  His policy writings have appeared in RAND Corporation, NBR, Stimson Center, Pacific Forum CSIS, Japan Times, Nikkei, Yomiuri, Asahi and Sankei Shimbun.

Sheila A. Smith is John E. Merow senior fellow for Asia-Pacific studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). An expert on Japanese politics and foreign policy, she is the author of Japan Rearmed: The Politics of Military Power, Intimate Rivals: Japanese Domestic Politics and a Rising China (released in Japanese as 日中 親愛なる宿敵: 変容する日本政治と対中政策), and Japan’s New Politics and the U.S.-Japan Alliance. She is also the author of the CFR interactive guide Constitutional Change in Japan. Smith is a regular contributor to the CFR blog Asia Unbound and a frequent contributor to major media outlets in the United States and Asia. Smith joined CFR from the East-West Center in 2007, where she directed a multinational research team in a cross-national study of the domestic politics of the U.S. military presence in Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines. She was a visiting scholar at Keio University in 2007-08, where she researched Japan’s foreign policy towards China, supported by the Abe Fellowship. To read her complete bio, click here.

Moderator:
Joshua W. Walker, Ph.D., President & CEO, Japan Society

Business & Policy Forum is generously supported by Japan Society Global Leaders & Corporate Partners.

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Japan Society’s 120th anniversary initiatives and related programs are generously supported by Champion Sponsor, MUFG Bank, Ltd.; Advocate Sponsor, Mizuho Americas; and Friend Sponsor, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas).