In recent years, the United States and Japan have each undertaken a dramatic overhaul of various crisis and consequence management structures for preventing and responding to natural and man-made disasters, including earthquakes, terrorist attacks, critical infrastructure failures, and nuclear accidents. During these organizational changes, the two countries have a unique opportunity to create new patterns of cooperation and share appropriate resources and technologies for strengthening their abilities to protect their citizens, as well as those in less developed countries. This binational...

The U.S.-South Korean alliance faces significant challenges caused by transitions in both countries, including political and demographic change in South Korea and fast-paced adjustments to America's national security strategy in the face of a new global and regional strategic landscape. These are stressful circumstances, but they also present opportunities for improving alliance relations. Careful planning and effective communication at various levels (including the public level) is needed to minimize the stress and to capitalize on the opportunities. The study examines the complex dynamics...

The unprecedented series of six-party talks to resolve the standoff over North Korea's nuclear activities heralded a new and indelibly regional dynamic in Northeast Asia. Even if the process does not achieve all its objectives, the multilateral legacy that it leaves behind should not be squandered. Policy makers need to coordinate regional efforts, not only on the deal-making process regarding North Korea's nuclear programs, but also on back-end issues relating to how the logistical and technical process of dismantling North Korean weapons of mass destruction (WMD) could actually unfold and...

One of the more successful innovations of the last six years in the area of U.S.-Japanese and U.S.-South Korean alliance management has been the establishment and use of the Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group for developing common policies toward North Korea. This book examines how the TCOG process can and should be strengthened and expanded (or simply copied) to encourage trilateral coordination beyond that of North Korean policy and, by means of such coordination, to strengthen the two bilateral alliances. In this collaborative effort, U.S., Japanese, and South Korean scholars...

North Korea tested its first nuclear weapon in October 2006, after more than three years of sporadic multilateral diplomacy and negotiations aimed at forestalling its emergence as a new nuclear state in Northeast Asia. Convincing North Korea it would be better off without such weapons and related programs is fraught with challenges, but the situation has mobilized North Korea's neighbors and the United States to begin to create a regional security and economic framework that can reconcile their conflicting priorities and threat perceptions.

A nuclear North Korea is now a catalyst...

Both U.S. and Japanese policymakers understand that leveraging military resources during a disaster is an opportunity to save lives and property, to help maintain stability and prosperity in affected nations, and to promote the allies' diplomatic interests. However, it must be done carefully to maximize efficiency and avoid undermining humanitarian principles. Together with a handful of other key countries, the United States and Japan can form a valuable crisis core group that cooperates in support of large-scale, UN-led disaster relief operations, but effective civil-military coordination is...