From 2022-2023, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation assembled a diverse, trilateral team of thought leaders from Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States (Japan-ROK-US) to articulate a shared vision for a more prosperous, secure, and harmonious Indo-Pacific region. The Foundation asked the team to identify obstacles slowing progress toward that future and generate ideas for how those challenges could be overcome or mitigated.
Building on a foundation of mutual trust, this “trilat” addressed four questions:
• What would an ideal trilateral Japan-ROK-U.S. relationship look like?
• What benefits could we realize by fostering trilateralism, or, short of that ambitious goal, more closely aligning national efforts to advance shared economic goals, security interests, and values?
• What could we be doing together that we are not doing?
• What does the world need from the Japan-ROK-U.S. triangle, and how might the three like-minded nations create public goods and strengthen functional multilateralism?
Using the findings of this group, the following report summarizes key areas of cooperation, aimed at taking into account fast-moving events in the Indo-Pacific.