U.S.-Japan Burden Sharing: Japan Has Increased Its Contributions but Could Do More

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the U.S. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies' and Japan's efforts to share the common defense burden, focusing on: (1) the status of U.S. burden-sharing initiatives proposed to NATO and Japan since 1980; (2) NATO and Japanese responsiveness to those initiatives; and (3) the allies' records in meeting their military commitments.