Benn Steil's Wall Street Journal op-ed explains the unique historical circumstances in which the Bretton Woods international monetary system emerged in 1944, and why calls for "a new Bretton Woods" today will go unsatisfied.

The election of the hawkish Shinzo Abe as Japan's prime minister has the world worrying that Tokyo is about to part with its pacifist strategy of the last 70 years. But Japan's new leaders are pragmatic, and so long as the United States does not waver in its commitment to the country's defense, they are unlikely chart a new course.

President Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Abe made these remarks after their meeting on February 22, 2013.

President Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Abe released this statement after their meeting on February 22, 2013, regarding trade relations.

Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communication Ben Rhodes held this conference call with National Security Council Senior Director for Asia Danny Russel and Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Mike Froman, to preview Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe's visit to Washington, on February 22, 2013.

In a major electoral comeback, Japan's conservatives have won a supermajority in parliament. But the results have stirred anxieties about how they will use their power, says CFR's Sheila Smith.

Reviving Japan's economy from its two-decade-long slump is key to stabilizing the country's political environment, says expert Gerald Curtis.

Sebastian Mallaby argues that Europe's future is looking frighteningly like Japan's past.

Michael Spence shares his bullish outlook on emerging markets and their ability to rebound from a global growth slowdown.

Escalating friction between Japan and China in the East China Sea is becoming more difficult to contain, fed by political opportunism in both countries, says CFR's Sheila Smith.

Sheila Smith argues that while recent tensions between Japan and South Korea over territorial issues are deeply worrisome for the U.S. government and for regional stability, the reality is that a stronger bilateral relationship can only come about if it is the Japanese and Korean people that lead the effort on reconciliation.

Sheila A. Smith discusses how Japan's move to replace its ambassadors to the United States, China, and South Korea with three career officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has to do as much with domestic politics as it does with tensions in the region.

Sheila A. Smith examines the way in which the 2010 crisis emerged between Japan and China, arguing that a crisis management initiative between Beijing and Tokyo rather than an overall reconciliation agenda may be what is now needed.

President Obama and Prime Minister Noda of Japan gave this joint press conference in Washington, DC on April 30, 2012.

CFR's James M. Lindsay remembers the sarin gas attack on Tokyo's subway on March 20, 1995 by a religious cult, and discusses how technological advances increasingly mean that governments are no longer the only ones capable of inflicting mass destruction.

One year after the Fukushima nuclear crisis, Japan is facing a dilemma of how to clean up the disaster and how to meet current and future energy needs, says expert Charles D. Ferguson, even as the global nuclear industry continues to face the accident's aftershocks.

One year after Japan's triple disasters, questions persist about the ability of the world's third-largest economy to rebound and how its struggling political system can mount serious reforms, writes CFR's Sheila Smith.

CFR's Senior Fellow for Japan Studies, Sheila A. Smith, discusses the political and economic state of Japan one year after the earthquake and tsunami.

CFR's James M. Lindsay remembers the firebombing of Tokyo during World War II and discusses the destructive power of conventional weapons.

Sheila A. Smith discusses recovery and rebuilding one year after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.