Russia's war against Ukraine shocked the world both in terms of its naked aggression and brutality. Aside from the hostilities themselves, Russian aggression has sparked conversations about a similar war being started by other major powers in other parts of the world. In particular, given China's persistent claim that Taiwan is a breakaway province and the history of Chinese provocations directed at Taiwan, comparisons are naturally drawn between Russia's aggression and possible Chinese kinetic military action against Taiwan. This, in turn, has led key U.S. allies to look at the war in Ukraine to draw lessons for their security planning, a trend that has opened new opportunities for the United States and Japan to expand and deepen their security ties with one another. Comparing the situation in Ukraine with a possible invasion of Taiwan elicits several important questions for the United States and its ally Japan.

To assess the implications of the war in Ukraine on the Indo-Pacific region and the lessons that today's conflict may portend for the U.S.-Japan alliance, the RAND Corporation organized a pair of conferences in fall 2022. These conference proceedings contain a summary of those events and an analytical assessment based on those conferences.