Japan's alliance with the United States is examined with reference to defence production and technology-sharing. The alliance's post-Cold-War relevance is considered. It is argued that there is a danger of significant tensions arising in the relationship from parallel rather than identical national interests. A widening gap between the respective interests forms a potentially fatal flaw in the relationship. Failure to move beyond bilateralism to multilateral answers threatens to undermine the search for regional peace.

NEIL RENWICK is Co-Director of the Centre for Asia-Pacific Studies and Reader in International Relations at The Nottingham Trent University.