II Current Event Lecture: The Japan-U.S. Alliance and the Sino-ROK "Entente": The Changing Security Environment of East Asia

The nature of the Japan-U.S. Alliance is changing as Japan assumes a larger security role in the region. The emerging “entente” between China and South Korea will affect the strategic landscape of East Asia. How should the U.S. policy of rebalancing respond to the new security environment?

Masashi Nishihara is president of the Research Institute for Peace and Security (RIPS), Tokyo, Japan. He is also a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Experts and Eminent Persons Group of the ASEAN Regional Forum. Prior appointments include president of the National Defense Academy, chairman of the Japan Association of International Security, and member of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s Task Force on External Relations. Nishihara graduated from the University of Michigan in 1972 with a PhD in political science.