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Please join the Atlantic Council on Wednesday, March 24, 2021 from 6:00-8:15 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, (Thursday, March 25, 2021 from 7:00-9:15 a.m., Japan Standard Time) for a virtual public conference on the future of the bilateral US-Japan alliance and multilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific under the Biden and Suga administrations, hosted by the Atlantic Council’s Asia Security Initiative, housed within the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.

The first session (6:10-7:00 p.m. EDT) will focus on the future of the bilateral US-Japan alliance under the Biden and Suga administrations. It will seek to identify key opportunities and challenges that the alliance faces under the new administrations. It will also aim to tackle important questions such as how the two allies can best coordinate their responses to China’s growing power in the security and economic domains in the Indo-Pacific, collaborate on the most pressing traditional and nontraditional security and trade issues, and develop a shared strategic vision on challenges such as supply chain security, 5G, and data privacy.

The second session (7:15-8:15 p.m. EDT) will focus on multilateral cooperation under the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) and the role of the US-Japan alliance. As the cornerstone of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific, the US-Japan alliance has the capacity to drive the direction of strategic cooperation with key partners in the region, including India and Australia, who are also members of the emerging Quad. The panel will investigate recent and future efforts to operationalize the Quad’s cooperation on maritime security and supply chains. It will also examine how the alliance can engage with regional stakeholders beyond the Quad on their efforts in the Indo-Pacific. 

Opening remarks | 6:00 – 6:10 p.m. (EDT) / 7:00 – 7:10 a.m. (JST)

Speakers

Mr. Frederick Kempe
President and CEO
Atlantic Council

H.E. Koji Tomita
Ambassador of Japan to the United States

Panel discussion 1: The bilateral alliance under Biden and Suga | 6:10 – 7:00 p.m. (EDT) / 7:10 – 8:00 a.m. (JST)

Speakers

Mr. Marc Knapper
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Korea and Japan,
Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
US Department of State

Dr. Toshihiro Nakayama
Professor of American Politics and Foreign Policy
Keio University

Dr. Sheila A. Smith
Senior Fellow for Japan Studies
Council on Foreign Relations

Moderated by

Mr. Barry Pavel
Senior Vice President and Director,
Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security
Atlantic Council

Panel discussion 2: Multilateral cooperation and the quad | 7:15 – 8:15 p.m. (EDT) / 8:15 – 9:15 a.m. (JST)

Speakers

Ms. Lisa Curtis
Senior Fellow and Director, Indo-Pacific Security Program
Center for a New American Security

Dr. Jagannath Panda
Research Fellow and Coordinator of East Asia Centre
Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses

Mr. Ashley Townshend
Director, Foreign Policy and Defense
United States Studies Centre

Ms. Yuki Tatsumi
Senior Fellow and Co-Director of East Asia Program,
Director of the Japan Program
Stimson Center

Moderated by

Dr. Miyeon Oh
Director and Senior Fellow, Asia Security Initiative, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security
​​​​​​Atlantic Council

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