Sheila A. Smith argues that tensions between Japan and China over disputed islands in the East China Sea could seriously harm U.S. interests. She discusses steps the United States could take to de-escalate the crisis.

Shelia Smith outlines the challenges facing Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations, particularly the territorial dispute in the East China Sea.

CFR Senior Fellow Sheila A. Smith argues that the time has come for Japan and the United States to set priorities for military missions, formalize mechanisms for crisis management coordination, and work toward a long-term basing strategy that consolidates U.S. and Japanese facilities.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan's reelection as head of Japan's ruling Democratic Party means some long-needed continuity in Japanese government, but the party needs to demonstrate its effectiveness, says CFR's Sheila Smith.

Sheila A. Smith says the future of the U.S.-Japan alliance rests on building trust among the people of Japan and their leaders.

In a series of Northeast Asian summits, China gave no signal it was prepared to ramp up pressure on North Korea, to the detriment of regional security efforts, writes CFR's Sheila Smith.

The United States, South Korea, and Japan have displayed solidarity in response to ramped-up tensions with North Korea, but China needs to be more active in crisis diplomacy, says CFR's Sheila Smith.

Sheila A. Smith says that Japan must go beyond its commitment to reduce its own nuclear weapons and play a more active global role in persuading others to abandon their use.

Sheila A. Smith says the nuclear summit offers Japan the opportunity to voice its long held aspirations for a nuclear free world.

Sheila A. Smith discusses the opportunities ahead for the United States and Japan before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on Asia.

CFR Senior Fellow Sheila Smith says the Six Party Talks have built cooperation among Northeast Asian countries, which need to work together, particulary on North Korea, but also on growing tension between the United States and China over planned U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

President Obama's trip to Asia offers an opportunity for the United States to reshape its relationship with Japan in the face of "historic" political change, writes Sheila Smith.

Ahead of President Obama's Asia trip, CFR experts Sheila Smith, Joshua Kurlantzick, Elizabeth Economy, and Scott Snyder discuss what the president should focus on during his visit to Japan, Singapore, China, and South Korea.

Sheila A. Smith argues that Japan's foreign policy stance under the new Democratic Party of Japan leadership now tops the list of concerns in the United States and elsewhere.

Electoral politics in Japan have been upended with the defeat of the long-governing Liberal Democratic Party. CFR's Sheila Smith says the rise of the Democratic Party of Japan could test the U.S.-Japan alliance and advises U.S. policymakers to focus on economic and energy-related cooperation.

Northeast Asian regional security talks appear increasingly doomed since North Korea's latest missile and nuclear tests. CFR's Sheila Smith argues the talks are worth reviving.

CFR's Northeast Asia expert Sheila A. Smith says it is imperative for the United States to make it clear that it will not accept a nuclear North Korea. The UN's nonproliferation regime is also facing a moment of truth, she says.

CFR's Sheila Smith says Pyongyang's latest attempt at a rocket launch shows the regime is clearly bent on acquiring a nuclear delivery capability. She says Washington must reassure North Korea that diplomacy is the only way forward.

CFR Senior Fellow Sheila A. Smith says Japan is well positioned to offer leadership on coping with the global financial crisis. But a domestic political stalemate, she says, threatens its ability to act.

Moving beyond decades of hostility, Chinese and Japanese leaders are starting a new trend of goodwill between the two countries. This new attitude includes a move towards cooperating on issues such as climate change and security in Korean peninsula, writes Sheila Smith.

Sheila A. Smith, a CFR adjunct senior fellow who lives in Tokyo, says Yasuo Fukuda, the new Japanese prime minister, is likely to be a moderate force in Japanese politics.

Smith, a Japan political expert living in Tokyo, says even though Prime Minister Shinzo Abe does not have to resign, there is “intense pressure” on him to do so from within his own party.