A bipartisan group of influential U.S. policy experts on Thursday unveiled a set of proposals for their country and Japan to build a more integrated partnership in the face of a challenging security environment, with one key pillar being a transformation of the decades-old alliance's command-and-control architecture.
A report released by the group, co-chaired by former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Joseph Nye, a former assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, highlighted that Japan's role in the international community and its alliance with the United States have become more important than ever.
"The United States should upgrade the leadership of U.S. forces in Japan by establishing a standing three- or four-star joint operational command, subordinate to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, with a more robust staff and the authority to plan and execute bilateral exercises and operations," it said.
The group under the nonprofit Center for Strategic and International Studies said the United States and Japan should then set up a bilateral office to assist with closer coordination and minimize seams between the structures of the forces, which would maintain separate chains of command.
The report was released days before a meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington, during which they are expected to discuss the topic in conjunction with Japan's planned setup of a joint headquarters to command its ground, maritime and air forces by March 2025.
Noting that doubts about the future of U.S. leadership in global affairs persist, especially with the presidential election looming in November, the experts said, "The burdens of global and regional leadership will therefore fall more heavily on Tokyo in the near term" but it is "well positioned to take this role."
The report is the sixth of its kind evaluating the state of the alliance, with the initial version having been issued in 2000.
