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Preface

I am delighted to present the latest publication from the Stimson Center’s Japan Program. Key Challenges in Japan’s Defense Policy is the seventh volume of Views from the Next Generation, an annual collection of policy briefs that offer recommendations for the most significant challenges facing Japan and its partners today. This edition benefits from the diverse expertise of five leading and emerging scholars, who share with us fresh insights on Japan’s defense policy.

The topics they cover—ensuring a human resource base for the military, deterring attacks from new technologies, balancing budget constraints with emerging threats, and maintaining partnerships amidst political changes—are pressing questions for not only Japan but states around the world. As governments design policy to adapt to novel domains like outer space, cyberspace, and the electromagnetic spectrum, the acceleration and complexity of threats mandate new thinking. Here we look to nuanced analysis from up-and-coming experts to shed light on how Japan and its partners can ensure stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Across its seven-year history, the Views from the Next Generation series has been uniquely positioned to provide balanced, original perspectives on today’s security challenges. I am confident the discussions in this volume raise timely and universal questions about the realities and future of security policy in Asia.

I am once again grateful to Yuki Tatsumi for leading this project as a part of Stimson’s expansive work on Japan. Yuki has dedicated her career to deepening ties across the Pacific, and her reputation as a rigorous scholar and nonpartisan voice on Japanese security and alliance policy precedes her. In this volume she again demonstrates her commitment to facilitating cross-border understanding. Pamela Kennedy and Jason Li also provided critical support to this publication. Finally, my colleagues and I are grateful for the continued support from our friends at the Embassy of Japan for their support of this initiative.

Brian Finlay 

President and CEO 

The Stimson Center

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