The Asia Strategy Initiative (ASI) aims to bring together mid-career experts to put forward a set of detailed issue-specific policy proposals on topics related to the U.S.-Japan alliance. After an initial pilot meeting held in January 2017, the group plans to meet twice each year (once in Tokyo, once in Washington DC) and will issue a memorandum after each meeting. The project will rely on recognized mid-career experts to delve deeply into policy options for Japan, the United States, and key partners, resulting in specific and actionable recommendations.

The Japan-U.S. program at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) has invested substantial resources in both senior-level and young-mid career level groups around the issue of Japan-U.S. cooperation and the alliance. Early- and mid-career groups have increased interest in the alliance, particularly by connecting emerging experts and encouraging U.S. scholars to study Japan. Few programs, however, have focused on jointly producing deeply researched studies with actionable policy proposals. Doing so requires cooperation between mid-career experts who have both the expertise and time to conduct deep studies of important issues. These experts form the foundation for the alliance because they have the ability to build support for ambitious initiatives, forming the foundation for the next set of efforts to enhance the U.S.-Japan alliance.

Establish a dialogue among Japanese and American security experts who are experts on both East Asian security and intergovernmental alliance coordination efforts. These experts should be capable of “looking around the corner” to identify potential allied efforts to address critical issues. These experts should interact with security experts from key partners in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Europe, to create a global agenda for the U.S.-Japan alliance.

The Asia Strategy Initiative will hold two workshops each year, beginning with a pilot meeting in early 2017; the first official workshop was held on May 16, 2017 in Tokyo. Meetings will rotate principally between Japan and the United States. A policy memorandum will be released after each subsequent workshop.