Why Should We Care About the U.S.-Japan Alliance?

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel joins Jim and Ray for 2025's inaugural episode, in which he discusses why the alliance between the U.S. and Japan is critical to the security of both nations and of a vital but volatile region.

In his characteristically forthright style, he explains how the Japan alliance strengthens America's strategic position, especially as it has been increasing its investments in its own defense. Multilateral cooperation among allies--an alliance "latticework--is, he says, an asymmetric advantage for the U.S. to offset an increasingly aggressive but still largely isolated China.

Turning to economic issues, the ambassador asserts that trade imbalances don't tell the whole story, and that Japan is a major investor in the U.S. economy. Moreover, he makes the case that deterring China can't be seen solely in mil ...