The U.S.-Japan Alliance and Taiwan

On Friday, October 2, the Asia Policy Program will host Dr. Adam P. Liff for “The U.S.-Japan Alliance and Taiwan.” Dr. Liff is a scholar of contemporary foreign policy and security challenges in East Asia, particularly Japanese politics and foreign policy; the U.S.-Japan alliance; U.S. allies and Taiwan; Japan-U.S.-China relations; and U.S. Asia-Pacific strategy.

Amid a rapidly changing balance of power and worsening frictions across the Taiwan Strait, this talk surveys the historical evolution of Japanese perspectives on the U.S.-Japan security alliance’s and the Japan Self-Defense Forces’ potential roles in a “Taiwan contingency.” Though Tokyo’s nuanced positions and policies vis-à-vis Taiwan and the Taiwan Strait have generally been overlooked in the U.S.-China-Taiwan centric academic literature and policy discourse, Japan is a critical front-line player. The policy choices Japan’s leaders make have long been—and will inevitably remain—crucial variables affecting cross-strait deterrence, U.S. response options, and how things may play out if deterrence fails. Since this past November, Beijing’s coercion against Japan in response to an impromptu Taiwan-related remark by Japan’s prime minister, coupled with yet another round of massive PLA exercises around Taiwan, throws into sharp relief the real-world importance of nuanced understanding of these issues.

Related academic publications:

• “The U.S.-Japan Alliance and Taiwan” (Asia Policy)
• “Japan, Taiwan, and the ‘One China’ Framework after 50 Years.” (The China Quarterly)
• U.S. Allies and the Taiwan Strait (Cambridge University Press)

Dr. Adam P. Liff is Professor of East Asian International Relations at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, where he also serves as Founding Director of its 21st Century Japan Politics and Society Initiative (“21JPSI”). Beyond IU, he is a Nonresident Senior Fellow with the Center for Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution, as well as a Faculty Associate and Associate-in-Research at Harvard University’s Program on U.S.-Japan Relations and Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, respectively. He is also the former Visiting Chair in Modern and Contemporary Japanese Politics and Foreign Policy at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service.

Dr. Liff’s research examines contemporary foreign policy and security challenges in East Asia—with a particular focus on Japanese politics, foreign policy, and the U.S.-Japan alliance; U.S. allies and Taiwan, Japan-U.S.-China relations; and U.S. Asia-Pacific strategy. He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Politics from Princeton University, a postgraduate research certificate in international politics from the University of Tokyo, and a B.A. with honors and with distinction from Stanford University. A dedicated educator, he has received multiple commendations for his teaching—including IU’s Trustees Teaching Award in 2024. His personal research website is https://adampliff.com/.