“The U.S.-Japan alliance, which has been the bedrock for peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region for over 70 years, is as strong as ever today…. Now is the time to build on the strength of this alliance to enhance their global collaboration, particularly to strengthen health security and democratic resilience.”

In this op-ed published in the Diplomat ahead of the 2023 G7 Summit in Hiroshima, JCIE/USA Executive Director Kazuyo Kato and Ambassador (ret.) Mark Lagon, Chief Policy Officer at Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, call for more deliberate US-Japan collaboration in the areas of global health and democratic norms to underpin the two countries’ mutual commitment to uphold human dignity. They outline greater alignment between the United States and Japan in recent years, highlighting Japan’s emphasis on “human security” as a cornerstone of its foreign policy, the evolution of US priorities in global health since COVID-19 toward more emphasis on health systems strengthening, which has been the focus of Japan’s global health policy, and the two countries’ increasing interest in supporting democratic norms.

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