Strategic Yet Strained: US Force Realignment in Japan and its Effects on Okinawa

In the history of the US-Japan alliance, the so-called Okinawa problem-how to alleviate the burden of Okinawa's hosting of over seventy-five percent of US forces in Japan-remains to be one of the toughest alliance management issues for US and Japanese policymakers. Over the past two years, twleve experts on the US-Japan alliance have met periodically to discuss the various strategic and political aspects of this unique relationship, with special attention paid to the unusually large role Okinawa has played in housing US troops in Japan. Analyzing US force realignments in the Asia-Pacific region that have been ongoing as part of the Global Posture Review (GPR), Strategic Yet Strained: US Force Realignment in Japan and its Effects on Okinawa is a culmination of these conversations, providing a comprehensive overview of where the US-Japan alliance has been, where it is now, and where it will be going in the future. With six Japanese researchers and six American perspectives, Strategic Yet Strained offers rare insight into how the complicated relationships of Washington, Tokyo, and the local government of Okinawa affect the Us-Japan alliance and the entire security of East Asia.