Abstract
 
The aim of this research paper is to provide a fuller understanding of the perspectives of Japan, the ROK, and Taiwan on the US rebalance strategy. In particular, it explores the basis of the difference in approach to that strategy and argues that difference arises from both the distinctive international identities that regional actors have set out to promote, as well as from the multi-layered nature of the rebalance strategy itself. The implications of this for intra-alliance coordination as well as for relations with China — two key elements of the rebalance — are also examined in order to show the complexities associated with America’s successful promotion of this strategy.​