Just one month into its rule, the newly elected Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) seems intent to turn campaign rhetoric into action by reexamining Tokyo's policy toward the U.S.-Japan alliance. As President Obama makes his first visit to Tokyo on November 12, a number of troubling issues will complicate his ability to bolster general U.S.-Japan global cooperation. The thorniest subject overshadowing the president's visit will be U.S. demands that Tokyo move forward with an accord to realign U.S. bases in Okinawa, an issue recently defined as nonnegotiable by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The president will also have to address the DPJ's wavering commitment to the U.S. mission in Afghanistan and Tokyo's desire to create an East Asian community centered on Japan, China, and Korea.

The U.S.-Japan alliance is undergoing one of its tensest moments in recent years. If the alliance is to maintain its role as the cornerstone of peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region, Washington and Tokyo will have to prove they can work together. What troubles lie ahead for the U.S.-Japan alliance if President Obama is unable to reach agreement with Prime Minister Hatoyama, particularly on the issue of base realignment?

A panel of experts will convene at AEI to discuss Obama's prospects for success in Tokyo: Japan studies director Kent E. Calder, who heads the Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS); Patrick Cronin, a senior adviser and director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security; and James Shinn, who served as Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs in the last Bush administration. AEI's director of Japan Studies Michael Auslin will moderate.