TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s vision of an Asian NATO has precedent in a similar Cold War-era idea proposed by the U.S. But it faces tougher hurdles now as the U.S. grows reluctant to sign on to an arrangement that involves defending other countries.
NATO, the Atlantic collective defense framework, positioned the Soviet Union as its main threat during the Cold War and now sees Russia as the likely enemy. What Ishiba’s Asian NATO would look like is not entirely clear at this point, but it could see Japan, the U.S., Australia and Southeast Asian nations band together to counter an increasingly coercive China.