The Necessary Deepening of Japan’s Alliances

In this episode, Mike speaks with Christopher Johnstone, Partner and Chair of the Defense & National Security Practice at The Asia Group. Previously, he served as Senior Advisor and Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and before that as National Security Council Director for Asia under President Biden and Director for Japan and Oceanian Affairs under President Obama. They discuss the arc of U.S.–Japan relations, the recent summit between U.S. President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi, Japan’s rapidly evolving defense policies, and much more.

You can listen to The Necessary Deepening of Japan’s Alliances online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The Necessary Deepening of Japan’s Alliances is an episode from The Asia Chessboard by Center for Strategic and International Studies.

This episode is 45:57 long.

This episode was published on Dec 16, 2025.

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