As the Indo-Pacific enters a period of profound geopolitical transformation, the U.S.–Japan alliance remains a cornerstone of regional and global security. For more than seven decades, this strategic partnership between the United States and Japan has advanced peace, stability, and economic prosperity across the Asia-Pacific. Today, the alliance stands at a pivotal moment. In October 2025, President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae affirmed a “new golden age” of bilateral cooperation reaffirming a shared commitment to collaboration and a rules-based international order.
The twelfth year of RAND’s U.S.–Japan Alliance Series, “The U.S.–Japan Alliance: Today and Beyond,” offers a timely opportunity to reflect on the alliance’s evolving role in Indo-Pacific security, global defense cooperation, and international diplomacy. The program will consider current foreign policy priorities, emerging security challenges, and prospects for deeper bilateral collaboration amid evolving global dynamics.
This full-day program convenes distinguished experts from both nations to explore the security and strategic dimensions of the alliance. The Honorable Shotaro Yachi, Japan’s first National Security Advisor, will deliver the keynote address, joined by six esteemed panelists offering diverse perspectives from Washington, Tokyo, and across the Indo-Pacific region on the future of this pivotal relationship. Join us for what promises to be an insightful day of conversation and exchange.
Program
*Subject to change.
Welcome Remarks
- Dr. Jeffrey W. Hornung: Japan Lead, National Security Research Division; Senior Political Scientist, RAND
- Mr. Kosei Murota: Consul General of Japan in Los Angeles
- Ms. Yuko Kaifu: President, JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles
Session I: Indo-Pacific Security Challenges
- Dr. Mira Rapp-Hooper: Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
- Mr. Nathan Beauchamp-Mustafaga: Senior Policy Researcher, RAND
- Mr. Ryan Fedasiuk: Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute
Lunchtime Keynote: The Enduring Value of the Alliance
- Mr. Shotaro Yachi: Former National Security Advisor to the Cabinet; Former Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs
Session II: The Alliance’s Role in Meeting Regional Challenges
- Ms. Lisa Curtis: Director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program, CNAS
- Mr. Nick Szechenyi: Vice President, Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department; Senior Fellow, Japan Chair, CSIS
- Mr. Masashi Murano: Senior Fellow, Japan Chair, Hudson Institute
Closing Remarks
- Dr. Jeffrey W. Hornung: Japan Lead, National Security Research Division; Senior Political Scientist, RAND
About the Speakers
Session I Speakers | Indo-Pacific Security Challenges
Dr. Mira Rapp-Hooper
Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
Dr. Mira Rapp-Hooper is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. A distinguished political scientist and former senior U.S. national security official, Dr. Rapp-Hooper has a particular expertise in U.S. alliances, deterrence, nuclear policy, and great power competition. Dr. Rapp-Hooper most recently served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for East Asia and Oceania at the White House National Security Council, where she was the top White House …
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advisor on the region. From 2021 to 2023, she served as Director for Indo-Pacific Strategy at the NSC, shaping the Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and managing key initiatives including the Quad, U.S.-Japan-ROK trilateral cooperation, and regional economic and security frameworks.
Previously, Dr. Rapp-Hooper held senior fellowships at the Center for a New American Security and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where she led the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. She also served on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff and as Asia Policy Coordinator for the 2016 Clinton campaign.
Dr. Rapp-Hooper holds a B.A. from Stanford University and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.
Mr. Nathan Beauchamp-Mustafaga
Senior Policy Researcher, RAND
Mr. Nathan Beauchamp-Mustafaga is a senior policy researcher at RAND, with a focus on Asian security issues. His research interests include Chinese foreign policy, Chinese military strategy, Chinese influence operations, Chinese nuclear strategy, Chinese deterrence signaling, the Korean Peninsula, and the INDOPACOM posture.
Prior to joining RAND, Mr. Beauchamp-Mustafaga was the editor of China Brief at The Jamestown Foundation.
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He has also spent time with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the Center for International and Strategic Studies at Peking University, and the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
Mr. Beauchamp-Mustafaga graduated from the dual-degree M.Sc. in International Affairs program at the London School of Economics and Peking University, and earned a bachelor’s degree in international affairs and Chinese language and literature from the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University. He is a member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and a Nonresident Fellow at the National Bureau of Asian Research. In total, Mr. Beauchamp-Mustafaga lived in China for over three years and completed a year each of high school, university and master’s education at seven schools in five cities throughout China.
Mr. Ryan Fedasiuk
Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute
Mr. Ryan Fedasiuk is a Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he writes on the intersection of U.S.-China relations, technology, and national power. He is cross-appointed between AEI’s Foreign and Defense Policy Studies program and the Center for Technology, Science, and Energy. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University, where he teaches open-source intelligence methods.
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From 2022-2024, Mr. Fedasiuk was an Advisor for U.S.-China Bilateral Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, where he helped launch the Office of China Coordination and served as the U.S. government’s main point of contact with the Chinese Embassy in Washington. Before that, he was a Senior Research Analyst with the Center for Security and Emerging Technology, leading open-source investigations into military applications of AI and U.S. security posture in East Asia.
Mr. Fedasiuk holds an M.A. in Security Studies from Georgetown University and a B.A. in International Studies and Russian language from American University.
Lunchtime Keynote Speaker
Mr. Shotaro Yachi
Former National Security Advisor to the Cabinet; Former Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr. Yachi, born in 1944, earned both his undergraduate and master’s degrees in law from the University of Tokyo. After joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he furthered his studies at the Fletcher School, Tufts University, and served as a research fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University.
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He held a series of prominent positions, including Consul-General of Japan in Los Angeles, Director General of the Foreign Policy Bureau, and Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs. Following his retirement from the Ministry, he served as the first Secretary General of the National Security Secretariat and National Security Advisor to the Cabinet. He currently serves as Chairman of the Fujitsu Future Studies Center.
Session II Speakers | The Alliance’s Role in Meeting Regional Challenges
Ms. Lisa Curtis
Director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program, CNAS
Ms. Lisa Curtis is the director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). With over 20 years of service in the U.S. government, her work centers on U.S. policy toward the Indo-Pacific and South Asia. Curtis served as deputy assistant to the president and National Security Council senior director for South and Central Asia from 2017 to 2021. She also was senior fellow on South Asia at the Heritage Foundation (2006 to 2017); …
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a staffer on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (2003 to 2006); senior advisor in the State Department (2001 to 2003); senior analyst at the CIA (1998 to 2001); and a diplomat at the U.S. embassies in Islamabad and New Delhi (1994 to 1998).
Curtis received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service in December 2020 in recognition of her work at the NSC. She is currently Board Chair of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Board Member of Women for Afghanistan, and a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Mr. Nick Szechenyi
Vice President, Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department; Senior Fellow, Japan Chair, CSIS
Mr. Nicholas Szechenyi is vice president of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and senior fellow with the Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He also served as deputy director of the Japan Chair from 2005 to 2022. His research interests include Japanese politics and foreign policy, U.S.-Japan relations, and U.S. strategy in the Indo-Pacific region. Prior to joining CSIS …
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in 2005, he was a news producer for Fuji Television in Washington, D.C., where he covered U.S. policy in Asia and domestic politics.
Mr. Szechenyi holds an MA in international economics and Japan studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a BA in Asian studies from Connecticut College. He lived in Japan for six years and speaks fluent Japanese.
Mr. Masashi Murano
Senior Fellow, Japan Chair, Hudson Institute
Mr. Masashi Murano is a senior fellow with Hudson Institute’s Japan Chair, where he leads research on U.S.–Japan defense cooperation, nuclear and conventional deterrence, and future force planning. As part of that work, he frequently briefs official delegations, news media, public intellectuals, academics, and business leaders from around the world.
Mr. Murano has more than fifteen years of experience in research, analysis, tabletop exercises, and facilitation …
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of numerous classified products related to strategic intelligence assessment and policy planning for the Japanese government.
Prior to joining Hudson, Mr. Murano was a fellow at the Okazaki Institute, a Tokyo-based think tank. He has also been a member of several government grant research programs, including the subcommittee on Security Issues in New Domains and the Government Grant Research Program for Foreign Affairs and Security Studies hosted by the University of Tokyo Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology.
Mr. Murano received both his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Takushoku University in Tokyo.
About the Moderator
Dr. Jeffrey W. Hornung
Japan Lead, National Security Research Division; Senior Political Scientist, RAND
Dr. Jeffrey Hornung is the Japan Lead for the RAND National Security Research Division and a senior political scientist at RAND. He specializes in Japanese security and foreign policies, East Asian security issues, and U.S. foreign and defense policies in the Indo-Pacific region, including its alliances. He is concurrently an adjunct professor at Georgetown University.
Prior to joining RAND in April 2017, Hornung was the …
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fellow for the Security and Foreign Affairs Program at Sasakawa USA from 2015 until 2017. From 2010 until 2015, Hornung worked as an associate professor for the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, a Department of Defense education facility in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Hornung received his Ph.D. in political science from The George Washington University. During 2005–2006, Hornung was also a visiting scholar at the University of Tokyo where he conducted his doctoral research as a Fulbright Fellow. He also holds an M.A. in international relations with a concentration in Japan studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
About the Speakers | Remarks
Mr. Kosei Murota
Consul General of Japan in Los Angeles
Kosei Murota is the Consul General of Japan in Los Angeles. Born in Osaka, Japan, he earned a B.A. in Law from the University of Tokyo in 1994, followed by an M.Phil. in International Relations from the University of Cambridge in 1997.
Murota joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in April 1994. In his early career, he served as First Secretary at the Embassy of Japan in the United States (2007-10) and then …
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as Executive Assistant to the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kenichiro Sasae (2010-16).
Subsequently, he held significant positions including Director and Senior Directorships at the Secretariat of the National Security Council (2016-18, 2021-25). Also, within MOFA’s Foreign Policy Bureau, he served as Director of the National Security Policy Division (2018-19), and Director of the Policy Coordination Division (2019-21).
Murota assumed his current position as Consul General in August 2025.
Ms. Yuko Kaifu
President of JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles
She started her career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. Her previous assignments include the Embassy of Japan in Canada and various departments at Ministry’s headquarters in Tokyo, including North American Affairs Bureau, Economic Corporation Bureau, Foreign Policy Bureau, and Cultural Affairs Bureau as a Deputy Director.
During her service in Tokyo, she was appointed official interpreter for dignitaries including Her Majesty …
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the Empress, Foreign Minister, and Prime Minister of Japan. In 2001, she was assigned to the Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles as a Consul in charge of political affairs and community relations.
In 2007, she left the government to work at the Japanese American National Museum as the Vice President, and then at MUFG Union Bank as a Managing Director of Corporate Communications from 2009 to 2016. She joined Japan House Los Angeles in January 2016 to start up the organization. She serves on the boards of the US-Japan Council, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, and the Advisory Board of UCLA Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies as well as many Japanese cultural and business associations.
She graduated from Nara Women’s University and received M.A. in Sociology from Queen’s University in Canada.
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