The US approach to international cooperation and alliances during the Biden administration: Japanese and Turkish perspectives
In past years, Japan-Turkey Dialogue on Global Affairs has provided an important platform for academics and strategic thinkers from the two countries to discuss issues of common concern from regional and global perspectives. The project has strengthened this ongoing intellectual dialogue. In 2022, experts from Turkey and Japan will undertake a comprehensive policy dialogue and propose new ideas to explore where the US grand strategy under Biden administration is evolving and how it will affect the two countries’ alliance relationship with the United States on the one hand, and their bilateral ties on the other.
Against the backdrop of discussions about a prospective American retreat, the Biden administration has come to office with an agenda to reassert American primacy and global leadership. A key component of this policy is to revisit the issue of alliances and international cooperation.
Turkey and Japan have been key U.S. allies in their respective regions after the Second World War. Although they were located in different regional realities, at times they have had to confront similar challenges stemming from the transformations of the global system, and questions pertaining to the credibility of U.S. security commitments in the post-Cold War era. They have experienced in their own ways the repercussions of the broader debate pertaining to the shifts in US grand strategy.
The main objective is to discuss pressing strategic issues in the military, geopolitical, economic and technological spheres in a comparative format to understand where prospects for international competition and cooperation in these issue areas are heading. These strategic conversation among the expert community will contribute to the enhancement of the Turkish-Japanese bilateral relations.
The project activities will include Turkish-Japanese Strategic Forum, Delphi Survey, Expert Workshop, and Policy Report. By initiating a policy dialogue through these activities, the project will help ensure that Turkish and Japanese perspectives on these issues become part of an ongoing conversation among the strategic thinkers.
The members of the project team include Associate Professor Bahadır Pehlivantürk (TOBB-ETÜ), Dr. Kohei Imai (IDE-JETRO), Professor Haldun Yalçınkaya (TOBB-ETÜ), Professor Şaban Kardaş (TOBB-ETÜ). Honorary president of the Forum is Professor Nobukatsu KANEHARA from the Doshisha University (former Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe).
