A six-point plan to make the US-Japan alliance battle-ready

Valiant Shield is a large-scale military exercise led by the U.S. in the Western Pacific that includes allies including Japan. (Screenshot from U.S. Navy's Facebook page)David Santoro is president and CEO of the Hawaii-based Pacific Forum, which runs the annual Honolulu Defense Forum, an event that facilitates dialogue between public and private-sector actors to bolster U.S. and allied deterrence in an increasingly contested Indo-Pacific.