Australia and Japan : allies in partnership

For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/Despite being the so-called northern and southern anchors of the US alliance system in Asia, for the Cold War period Japan-Australia security relations were minimal. In contrast, over the last seven years, this bilateral relationship has blossomed in line with the two states' strengthening alliances with the United States. In 2007, Australia became the second country after the United States to sign a bilateral defense agreement with post-war Japan, and in 2010 the second country to sign a defense logistics treaty with Japan. Malcolm Cook and Thomas Wilkins explain how the Japan-Australia strategic partnership is now becoming a well-developed and durable fixture in the evolving Asia-Pacific security order