Does the Western Pacific need a “Pacific Defense Pact”? Explaining the Proliferation of Trilateral Defense Partnerships

YCAPS is excited to announce our next event in Fussa. This event will feature Dr. Takuya Matsuda, Assistant Professor at the School of International Politics, Economics and Communication (SIPEC) at Aoyama Gakuin University. who will be presenting "Does the Western Pacific need a “Pacific Defense Pact”?: Explaining the Proliferation of Trilateral Defense Partnerships".

Does the western Pacific need a multilateral “Pacific Defense Pact”? As trilateral defense partnerships proliferate, there has been a robust policy debate over the feasibility of establishing a multilateral defense pact in a region that has been underpinned by a bilateral-based alliance system. This talk unpacks why trilateral defense partnerships such as the U.S.-Japan-Australia partnership are expanding in the western Pacific. It does so by illustrating how the emergence of these partnerships demonstrates how military alliances are increasingly becoming a means to jointly generate military power. The talk will also touch upon an under-appreciated yet increasingly salient dilemma in alliance politics between the junior allies’ pursuit of self-reliance and military effectiveness which will likely inform the trajectory of these novel partnerships.

Registration is optional (but helpful) via this form

Schedule:

• 17:45-18:15 - Welcome reception with refreshments. Feel free to show up at anytime during the reception.
• 18:15-19:30 - Seminar and Q&A
• 19:30-19:45 - Optional casual networking and chatting/wrap up .

Location:

Fussa Shimin Kaiken (Fussa Citizen's Hall) Meeting Room #3

3f 〒197-0011 Tokyo, Fussa, 2455−2455 福生市民会館

Google Maps: Here

Speaker:

Takuya Matsuda is an Assistant Professor at the School of International Politics, Economics and Communication (SIPEC) at Aoyama Gakuin University. Takuya is concurrently a Non-Resident Fellow for the Asia Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) in Philadelphia, PA. His research focuses on alliance politics, great power relations, deterrence, and U.S. grand strategy with a focus on the western Pacific. Takuya’s work has been published in the Journal of Strategic Studies, Australian Journal of International Affairs, The Washington Quarterly, Survival, War on the Rocks, and Foreign Policy. He received his Ph.D. from King’s College London, M.A. from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and B.A. from Keio University in Tokyo, Japan.

Event Cost: Free of charge

Registration: Optional but helpful via this link

Format: This event will be off-the-record

Moderator: Jeff Mazziotta