Concept of the Alliance: US-Japanese Security Cooperation

This thesis examines the U.S.-Japan security alliance. The strategic and security environment of the Northeast Asia region is currently undergoing a rapid change. The strong position of the United States in this region is challenged by China, whose ongoing territorial disputes with Japan may test the resilience of the U.S.-Japan alliance. Although the U.S.-Japan partnership is commonly denominated as an alliance (U.S.-Japan Alliance, Pacific Alliance), it might not fulfil all the basic attributes of the concept of military alliance. This thesis analyses the U.S.-Japan alliance in terms of the concept of military alliance and its essential elements. The concept of alliance as understood by this paper is defined in the first chapter. The second chapter applies this concept to the nature of the U.S.-Japan alliance and subsequently discusses to what degree each of the parties of the alliance meets the requirements of the essential elements of the concept. By investigating how the reality of the U.S.-Japan alliance corresponds with the concept of military alliance, this thesis offers the basis for further research of the U.S.-Japan military cooperation