Reinforcing Substantial Momentum

Posted: May 31st, 2016

By Scott Harold

Scott W. Harold is the Associate Director of the RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy, a political scientist at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation and a member of the Pardee RAND Graduate School faculty.

Against the backdrop of an increasingly assertive China and a highly-provocative North Korea, President Barack Obama attended the G-7 summit in Ise-Shima, followed by a personal trip to Hiroshima, where he was accompanied by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In what was sure to be his last official trip to Japan, the visit was an opportunity for Obama to reinforce the substantial momentum that he and his Japanese counterparts have brought to the alliance relationship over the past eight years.

At the same time, Washington and Tokyo have moved to actively shape and reinforce the values, norms, institutions, and regional order that have served to enable the Asia-Pacific to emerge as an engine of growth and bastion of freedom and democracy over the past nearly 40 years. Forecasting where the relationship will head after Obama leaves office requires understanding three key points.

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