These days, nobody does it better than Japan â especially from an American alliance perspective. From standing up to Chinese and Russian aggression to securing reliable supply chains, Japan and America are working together better, and with more urgency to coordinate and cooperate, than any other alliance around the world. In fact, Japan has pushed all its chips into the middle of the table to make an enormous existential bet on America. Its time to say out loud what policymakers already acknowledge behind closed doors: for the United States, Japan has become the new special relationship in the worlds most important region.
Americans will always have a unique fondness for the United Kingdom where our history, values, and the bond of shared bloodshed, alongside family ties, will keep us forever close. And our intelligence relationship, which has no parallel in the world, will continue to make our alliance enormously beneficial to both Washington and London. However, in terms of pure military and economic value, the UK alliance provides far less than Japan. Given Londons recent economic pandering to Beijing, it has also become a far less reliable ally across the Indo-Pacific.
Geography matters. Japan, sitting at the center of the first island chain, constrains Chinas access to the Western Pacific and secures U.S. access to the worlds most dynamic markets. Chinese leader Xi Jinpings public statements have long implied a desire to push America out of the Pacific. When it comes to the deterrence of Chinese aggression and defense of the First Island Chain that the 2026 U.S. National Defense Strategy sites as core priorities, Japan is irreplaceable and its naval forces long ago eclipsed those of the UK, Australia, or Europe. Other than Taiwan, no one else in the world is scrambling jets on a constant basis in the face of Chinese air incursions â 366 times in the last year. And when it comes to Taiwan, another vital U.S. interest given its geographic position and its centrality to the AI revolution, Japan is the most forward leaning. While other countries shy away from openly engaging with Taiwan, Tokyo is working with Taipei in public, is collaborating with the United States to reinforce deterrence, and is the most supportive of protecting the status quo across the Strait.
THREE KEY REASONS WHY AMERICA CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE TAIWAN TO COMMUNIST CHINA
Ensuring America has access to the Indo-Pacific matters, and without a strong U.S.-Japan alliance this too would be more problematic. Japan hosts approximately 60,000 U.S. service members and contractors, as well as another roughly 35,000 civilians â the largest US military presence outside America. Japan covers roughly 75% of those costs, an average payment of $1.5 billion per year from Tokyo under the current agreement, which is another large bet on America. Japan is also home to the only forward-deployed U.S. carrier strike group in the world, at Yokosuka naval base, providing formidable and constant deterrence near the Taiwan Strait.
And Japan continues to step up, heeding President Trumps call for broader burden sharing. Japans military expenditure rose 9.7% to $62.2 billion in 2025. Under Prime Minister Takaichis leadership, Japanese defense spending re
