Currently, optimism reigns among managers on both sides of the
U.S.-Japan alliance for many reasons, not least of which is the Japanese
support for the global war on terror. The Japanese are emerging from 5
decades of military minimalism and dependency and beginning to have
serious debates about their role in the world and the efficacy of
military power. This internal debate, however, has significant external
ramifications for Northeast Asia and the United States. A decade ago,
Henry Kissinger wrote that "the new world order, with its multiplicity
of challenges, will almost certainly oblige a country [Japan] with so
proud of a past to reexamine its reliance on a single ally." In this
monograph, Lieutenant Colonel (P) William E. Rapp explores the changing
nature of Japanese security policy and the impact of those changes on
the U.S.-Japan security alliance.