In this, the second publication of the NBR Analysis series, we offer three thought-provoking essays on Japan’s emerging role in the Asia-Pacific region and the implications for U.S.-Japan relations. A view expressed in all three essays is that the rationale behind the existing unilateral Asia-Pacific security arrangement–currently financed and sponsored by the United States alone–has been undermined by the dramatic changes in U.S.-Soviet relations and by Japan’s new role as an economic superpower.

These essays were originally presented at two recent conferences cosponsored by The National Bureau of Asian and Soviet Research. Professors Johnson and Pyle presented papers at a conference entitled “International Relations in East Asia and the Pacific: The Significance of Domestic Reforms and Political Trends,” which was cosponsored with the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) and held in Seattle last May. Dr. Lincoln’s paper was offered at a one-day conference held in Washington, D.C. on July 18 entitled “The Future of Great Power Relations in East Asia.” NBR’s July conference cosponsors were the Congressional Research Service of The Library of Congress and The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies-MacArthur Foundation Project on U.S.-U.S.S.R.-P.R.C. Interactions.