Unlocking the Potential of the U.S.-Japan-Europe Relationship

For the United States and Japan, the evolution of the global economy, the emergence of new players, and the internationalization of security threats place a new premium on cooperation with other, likeminded powers. In recent years, policymakers and analysts in Washington and Tokyo have focused primarily on enhancing U.S.-Japan ties with Asian and Pacific countries such as Australia and India. However, in the pursuit of global order, another trilateral relationship holds great potential: that involving Europe, Japan, and the United States. Collectively, these leading democracies constitute a bulwark of the current international system, and despite recent economic difficulties, they together possess unparalleled hard and soft power.

Four papers provide a snapshot of the possibilities for deeper U.S.-Japan-Europe cooperation. Bruce Stokes, in his paper 'The Transpacific-Transatlantic Single Market,' argues for closer trade cooperation among the United States, Japan, and Europe. Tsuneo Watanabe, in his paper 'Why Myanmar Matters: Ensuring the Future of the Liberal International Order in East Asia,' explores how Myanmar, and East Asia more broadly, have become a new frontier for trilateral cooperation. In their paper 'National Innovation Systems: Invention to Innovation,' Bhavya Lal and Stephanie Shipp analyze the national innovation systems of Germany, Japan, and the United States, and explore ways the three can leverage their national endowments through international cooperation. Bonji Ohara, in his paper, 'China and the Future of International Order,' looks to the Defense White Paper released by Beijing in April 2013 to gain insight on China’s larger national aspirations. Unlocking the potential of this trilateral relationship will go a long way toward advancing peace, prosperity, and freedom in a rapidly changing world.