By James R. Holmes
The Naval Diplomat ventured from sweltering New England to sweltering Washington, DC last Friday to explore Japanese maritime cooperation with fellow Asian seafaring powers. Well, cooperation with powers apart from A Certain Large Asian Power Whose Name May Not Be Spoken, anyway.
Hosted by my pals at the Center for a New American Security, the event took place at the Willard Hotel. This majestic edifice, a stone's throw from the White House, is renowned for its lobby. Indeed, the term lobbyist was coined for various advocates' practice of waiting there to intercept government officials and members of America's native criminal class, and, well, lobby for particular policies, federal largesse, or what-not. How's that for a nifty historical footnote?
But I digress (not for the first time). The CNAS organizers, clearly a reckless lot, asked me, the loose cannon, to act as discussant for a panel on maritime cooperation among Japan, Australia, and India. I jotted down a few thoughts for the panel while stranded in Providence awaiting my flight. Here's the gist of them.
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