Over the last decade, Japan’s position in Asia and the world has shifted
considerably. On the one hand, the Japanese economy has increasingly
become oriented toward East Asia, with much of the country’s manufacturing
tied up in regional production networks. Tokyo has
sought to take a leadership position in regional initiatives, including ones
that exclude its security patron, the United States. On the other hand, the
rise of China has not only made that country an indispensable economic
partner but at the same time has also made it a more formidable competitor
in political and military terms. In response, Japan has worked to strengthen
the U.S.-Japan alliance. Meanwhile, North Korea’s apparent determination
to develop nuclear weapons and longer-range missiles has complicated some
of the basic assumptions of the alliance.