The Japan-U.S.-Australia trilateral relationship looks great on paper. Three major democracies and advanced economies in the Asia-Pacific region, geographically distant but sharing numerous common values and interests.
Thus, the potential for proactive trilateral cooperation on everything from regional disaster relief to combating terrorism excites policymakers in Washington, Tokyo and Canberra.
This potential was behind a 2007 agreement between Australia and Japan to deepen defense relations, and a series of official talks since 2005 on regional issues. Four years later, however, realization of the full potential of the relationship appears elusive, stymied by the lack of a unified political vision and fears of antagonizing China and, to a lesser extent, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian nations.