"After decades of accepting U.S. supremacy in Asia as the foundation of its foreign and security policies, finding the right distance between the U.S. and China is the most important strategic choice facing Japan today. 'Getting it just right' with these two powers requires military and economic readjustments. The Japan-U.S. alliance is still the bedrock of Tokyo's grand strategy, but it was designed for a bipolar world that many Japanese strategists understand has passed. A rising China and a United States in relative decline are today at least equals in Japan's strategic calculus. My research in Berlin - based upon field work in Japan - will explore the shifting dynamics of East Asian security and its impact on Japan's evolving national security strategy, particularly the evolution of Tokyo's intelligence capabilities." Richard Samuels (March 2015), Einstein Foundation Close-Up