A Triad of Another Kind: The United States, China, and Japan

The United States, China, and Japan will decisively shape the future international relations of East Asia -- but how the three powers will cooperate with or collude against each other remains an open question. Zhang and Montaperto explore the prospects for the triad by combining rigorous theoretical analysis with a careful historical review of the three states, examining each pair of relations with respect to the most troublesome problem affecting it to determine the prospects for stability. In their eyes, Taiwan is the decisive obstacle in the China-U.S. relationship, while the Mutual Defense Treaty will shape the partnership between Japan and the United States. Meanwhile, the relative power of China and Japan will profoundly affect the relations between those two major Asian powers. The authors acknowledge that many other factors exist outside the scope of their work that might influence the triad as well. Within the limited mandate they have set for themselves, however, they provide profound and insightful analysis and a storehouse of valuable information about the balance of military forces.