Defending a Fraying Order: The Imperative of Closer U.S.-Europe-Japan Cooperation

Japan, Europe, and the United States are the leading stakeholders in the liberal international order constructed after 1945 and consolidated after 1989.That order is now fraying, partly at the hands of actors that have benefited most from the long period of peace. China’s leaders appear determined to threaten, and even use, military force to redraw the strategic map of Asia, complicating the United States’ ability to remain the region’s security guarantor and seeking to subjugate Japan rather than sharing leadership. Instead of celebrating the liberation of its people from tyranny and its reintegration with the world economy, Russia’s leader sees the collapse of the Soviet system as a tragedy and is working to build a new shadow empire in Eurasia. Meanwhile, the global economy is threatened by China’s growth slowdown and its strategy to build parallel institutions to project state power at the expense of the West. At the same time, democracies around the world, including in Europe and the United States, are under pressure from forces of populism, globalization, technological transformation, and the diffusion of power.

This collection assesses dynamics that are eroding the liberal international order and proposes ways in which the United States, Europe, and Japan can cooperate more closely to bolster a system that best protects their common interests and values. It proposes an agenda to counter great-power revanchism in Europe and Asia; champion the indivisibility of the global security order; enhance solidarity between Atlantic and Pacific allies; deepen democratic partnerships; stand up for universal values rather than bowing to the new authoritarianism; and renew economic growth and resiliency as the foundation of effective grand strategy. Subsequent chapters in this collection examine in more detail how the United States, Europe, and Japan can collaborate more closely on security, international economic governance, cooperation within international institutions, and building strategic trust.