WASHINGTON (Kyodo) Japan and the United States should consider issuing a new joint security declaration to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their alliance next year to help kick bilateral cooperation to the next level, a Washington think tank says.

"The U.S.-Japan alliance is the foundation for American engagement in the Asia-Pacific," the Center for a New American Security says in an 82-page report titled "The United States and the Asia-Pacific Region: Security Strategy for the Obama Administration."

The report notes that many of the challenges the alliance has faced over the past decade have stemmed from a lack of clarity from Tokyo and Washington on alliance-based cooperation and commitment. Thus, it says, a new joint security declaration "will help manage expectations and reduce friction within the alliance."