The 2023 Strategic Posture Commission Report From a Japanese Perspective

Masashi Murano

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Introduction

U.S. allies are interested in America’s strategic posture because it has a direct bearing on the credibility of U.S. extended deterrence guarantees. The 2023 Strategic Posture Commission report comprehensively addresses the qualitative and quantitative efforts needed by the United States to address China and Russia, i.e., the two-nuclear-peer problem. Its recommendations support strengthening the credibility of U.S. extended deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region—a conclusion that would have been positively received had it been emphasized in the 2022 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR).

While generally supportive of many of the Commission’s recommendations, this paper provides a complementary argument for improving the credibility of U.S. extended deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region from a Japanese perspective and an alternative option that differs slightly from the Commission’s recommendations.