Change and Continuity in Japan-Russia Relations: Implications for the United States

On March 20, the Center held a discussion on relations between Japan and Russia, and their implications for the United States. The discussion featured three contributors to a forthcoming Center for the National Interest Report on Change and Continuity in Japan-Russia Relations: Implications for the United States: Shoichi Itoh (Institute of Energy Economics, Japan), Testsuo Kotani (Japanese Institute of International Affairs) and Andrew Kuchins (Georgetown University). George Beebe, the Center’s Vice President and Director of Studies, moderated.

The US and Japan are close allies, but since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, differences have emerged between Washington and Tokyo over Shinzo Abe’s efforts to cultivate better ties with Moscow. For the U.S., Russia is a growing challenge that has taken on increasingly international dimensions. By contrast, Japan has sought, albeit with minimal success, to move closer to Russia to hedge against China, or at very least, to create some distance between Moscow and Beijing.