Germany, Japan and the War on Terror.

INTERNATIONAL relations; COUNTERTERRORISM; GEOPOLITICS; INTERNATIONAL relations, 1989-; GERMAN politics & government, 1990-; JAPANESE politics & government, 1989-; UNITED States politics & government, 2001-2009

This article analyzes the role of Germany and Japan in the war on terror. Germany and Japan play a key, if sometimes under appreciated role in U.S. grand strategy. The U.S. alliance with Germany and Japan serves a vital function in maintaining stability in Europe and Asia. In particular, the German and Japanese contributions to the Afghan campaign, while of relatively small importance militarily, are of potentially huge political significance. They represent critical breakthroughs in the ways in which those countries understand their role internationally and may well lead to the eventual creation of a more stable international order.