On December 7, local time, the Center for Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a cross-party foreign policy think tank, released a report led by former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and former dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, Joseph Nye.
The report is titled "The U.S.-Japan Alliance in 2020," which the subtitle explains as an "equal alliance with a global agenda." The report claims that the Five Eyes Alliance should include Japan in forming the Six Eyes Alliance, and that the United States should expand the scope of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue and seek a return to the CPTPP in terms of regional cooperation.
For this report, the Japanese media are extremely concerned. Nikkei Asia analyzed this and said that Japan is considered by American think tank scholars to play an "equal role" in the US-Japan alliance, which is the first time in the CSIS's similar report.
Screenshot of the Nikkei Asia report
"Pulling Japan to form the 'Six Eyes Alliance' to jointly deal with China"
The report, led by Richard Armitage and Joseph Nye, often referred to as the Armitage-Nye Report, aims to advance U.S. policy toward Japan and the transformation of the U.S.-Japan alliance and set the "future direction" for the alliance's development. It is worth mentioning that Armitage and Nai are the leaders of the "Zhiri faction" in the United States.
Armitage was the second-largest secretary of state in the U.S. State Department during the George W. Bush administration, and he was also a political figure familiar with Japanese affairs; Nye was a well-known American international political scientist who was the dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and was known for being the first to propose concepts such as "soft power." In 2009, Obama deliberately nominated Nye as U.S. ambassador to Japan, but that didn't happen, and like Armitage, Nye is the authority on Japan in the United States.
Previously, the two led the release of four Armitage-Ny Reports in 2000, 2007, 2012 and 2018, respectively, and the fifth report is now the latest edition.
Screenshot of the title of the fifth Armitage-Nye Report from the CSIS website
In the latest report, the authors reportedly "made a move" for Biden and his incoming new administration, positioning the United States and Japan as "equal partners with shared values" and declaring that both sides need to adjust their strategies to meet the challenges posed by a rising China.
"Both countries must be prepared for the regional and world order, and the pressure is greater today than at any time in the past 70 years." The report reads.
To that end, the report claims that the United States and Japan should cooperate further, and one of the major opportunities is to include Japan in the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network, a "Five Eyes intelligence sharing network" composed of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The United States and Japan should make serious efforts toward forming the Six Eyes network.
Screenshot of the Armitage-Nye Report
The Nikkei Asia report pointed out that the United States is not stable today, and this is the first time that the Armitage-Nye Report regards Japan as a force that plays an "equal role" or even a "leading role" in the U.S.-Japan alliance, and the United States urgently needs the help of this force to implement a new strategy and reshape the regional order.
In fact, Japan has always wanted to join the "Five Eyes Alliance", and the "Five Eyes Alliance" is also interested in making Japan the "sixth eye". In July, Taro Kono, then Japan's defense minister, proposed that Japan become the "sixth eye" at a so-called "China Research Group" seminar, which was subsequently welcomed by britain.
Sha Qingqing, a columnist on the Observer Network and deputy director of the Shanghai Library's Historical Documentation Center, once said that on the surface, Japan has actively demanded joining the "Five Eyes Alliance" and participating in the intelligence sharing system, which seems to be further implementing the cooperation concept of the "Japan-US alliance" and seems to be "showing loyalty" to Washington. But on the dark side, it may be a disguised claim to the United States for a more equal status of intelligence cooperation. Because under the current Japanese-American security system, the United States can unilaterally obtain the latest and most important intelligence information from Japan.
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue must be expanded and the United States must return to the CPTPP
In addition to the so-called Six Eyes Alliance, the report also refers to the Quad, a Quad of the United States, Japan, Australia and India, saying the mechanism must be broadened and more inclusive, otherwise the Quad Security Dialogue will be overshadowed by other regional institutions or coalitions.
The report also mentions that in the current U.S. political environment, if there is no strong economic integration capacity in trade, technology, infrastructure, and energy, then any U.S. strategy in the Indo-Pacific region will be hollow and unsustainable.
To this end, the report's authors call on the Biden administration to quickly demonstrate its willingness to rejoin the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
"The political difficulties of joining the CPTPP are obvious, but America's prosperity and security face greater risks, and joining is a top priority." The report also spoke of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which was just signed on Nov. 15, saying the broad Asia-Pacific trade agreement, which excludes the United States, should "sound the alarm bell for Washington."
Richard Armitage (left) and Joseph Nye
In 2000, the first Armitage-Nye Report criticized the Clinton administration's special approach to the U.S.-Japan alliance and promoted the coherence and strategic direction of the partnership, Nikkei Asia said. After joining the George W. Bush administration as deputy secretary of state, the Armitage-Nye Report, which Armitage led the writing, became the course of action for the Bush Administration's policy toward Japan.
Earlier this year, Japanese diplomat Yukio Okamoto reportedly died of COVID-19. The authors of the report said that they specially dedicated the work to Okamoto as a souvenir.
Armitage said at an online event: "I don't know anyone who embodies the spirit of the U.S.-Japan relationship better than Yukio Okamoto. ”
This article is an exclusive manuscript of the Observer Network and may not be reproduced without authorization.