This book assesses the key factors underlying such Australian-Japanese cooperation and those policy challenges that could impede it. Experts offer critical insights into why their two countries - traditionally the two key 'spokes' in the US bilateral alliance network spanning Asia - are moving toward a security relationship in their own right.

TADASHI ANNO is Associate Professor of Political Science at Sophia University, Japan
MALCOLM COOK is Dean of the School of International Studies, Flinders University, Australia
DAVID ENVALL is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of International Relations, College of Asia and the Pacific, at the Australian National University, Australia
KIICHI FUJIWARA is Professor of International Politics in the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo, Japan
EIICHI KATAHARA is Director, Regional Studies Department, National Institute for Defense Studies, Tokyo, Japan
RYO SAHASHI is Associate Professor of International Politics, Faculty of Law, Kanagawa University, Japan
TOMOHIKO SATAKE is Fellow, Research Department, National Institute for Defense Studies, Tokyo, Japan
KAZUHIKO TOGO is Professor and Director, Institute for World Affairs, Kyoto Sangyo University, Japan
YUJI UESUGI is Associate Professor at the Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation at Hiroshima University and Program Officer at the Hiroshima Peacebuilders Center, Japan
WILHELM M. VOSSE is Professor of Political Science at the International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan
DAVID WALTON is Senior Lecturer in Asian Studies and International Relations in the School of Humanities and Languages at the University of Western Sydney, Australia
THOMAS S. WILKINS is Lecturer in Security and Strategic Studies at the Centre for International Security Studies, University of Sydney, Australia

Introduction; W.T.Tow  & R.Kersten PART I: THE INTERPLAY OF DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN POLICY FACTORS Australian Foreign Policy Towards Japan: Weighing the Bureaucratic Process; D.Walton The Koizumi-Abe Revolution in Japanese Security Policy: Normative Transformation and Democratic Maturity; R.Kersten Japanese Domestic Politics and Security Cooperation with Australia: The Limits of 'Normalisation'; T.Anno Japan's Misfiring Security Hedge: Discovering the Limits of Middle-power Internationalism and Strategic Convergence; H.D.P.Envall  & K.Fujiwara PART II: THE DYNAMICS OF BILATERAL SECURITY COOPERATION Regional Security Politics in East Asia: What Can Japan and Australia Usefully Do Together?; K.Togo Japan-Australia Security Relations: A Tale of Timing; M.Cook Japan-Australia Security Relations: Building a Real Strategic Partnership?; T.S.Wilkins Japan-Australia Joint Security Statements and the Trilateral Strategic Dialogue: A Japanese Perspective; E.Katahara PART III: REGIONAL AND GLOBAL RAMIFICATIONS OF INTENSIFIED BILATERALISM The Broader Context: how Australia-Japan Relations 'Fit' into Regional and Global Security Dynamics; W.T.Tow Comparing Japanese, Australian and European Responses to 'Out-of-area' Security Challenges; W.M.Vosse Japan, Australia and International Security Burden-sharing with the United States; T.Satake Building a Foundation for Regional Security Architecture in the Asia-Pacific: Human Resource Development for Peacebuilding; Y.Uesugi Security Arrangements in the Asia-Pacific: A Three-tier Approach; R.Sahashi