Book written by 2009 Abe Fellow Andrew Oros based on his project “Trilateralism in the U.S.-Japan-China Security Relationship.”

2010 marks the 50th anniversary of the revision of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, making Japan one of the United States’s longest and most important military allies. Over 40,000 US troops are based in Japan, as is the only U.S. aircraft carrier based outside the United States, the USS George Washington. Japan possesses one of the world’s largest economies and strongest military forces, and as a result, its national security policies and institutions are highly significant—not just to America, but to the rest of the global community as well.

This book provides an overview of Japan’s transformation into one of the world’s most capable military powers over the past 150 years. Particular attention is paid to developments in the past decade, such as the 2009 change in the controlling political party and Japan’s responses to new global security threats.

Andrew Oros is an Associate Professor of Political Science and International Studies at Washington College. He is a 2009 SSRC-Abe Fellow and will be conducting Abe Fellowship fieldwork in Tokyo, Beijing, and Washington, D.C., through August 2011 for his project “Trilateralism in the U.S.-Japan-China Security Relationship.”