Please join us for the sixth meeting of the independent task force of the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security on the future of US Extended Deterrence in East Asia. This meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 25, from 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.

This meeting will focus on the US-Republic of Korea (ROK) alliance.  This is a pivotal time for the alliance. The purges last January in North Korea hint at potential instability. ROK-Japan relations are at a nadir as history issues are exacerbating Japanese tensions with China and the ROK, in the latter case, impeding much needed US-ROK-Japan strategic cooperation tensions in the face of mounting uncertainty in Northeast Asia. And not least, the 2015 OPCON transfer is looming, highlighting a range of challenges to the future of the US-ROK alliance.  We will focus on these issues and the implications for, and challenges to, US extended deterrence in Asia. Attached are several PDF documents for your read-ahead.

Recall that the broader objective of this project is to examine the challenges and opportunities to strengthen US extended deterrence in East Asia over the coming decade by examining the evolving threat environment and  new complexities in the international system. The task force will offer policy recommendations  to the United States and key regional governments based on an assessment of evolving regional and global trends. The project also will address the expanding deterrence toolkit– nuclear elements of deterrence, as well as conventional forces, conventional long-range strike, missile defenses, the domains of space and cyber space, and how emerging technologies and non-military means of deterrence may impact the security environment.