What does America think about the Senkaku Islands? An analysis of US think tank policy and strategy positions

Abstract This study conducts the first systematic review of major United States (US) think tank policy and strategy positions regarding defense of the Senkaku Islands. An analytical framework for content analysis is created and then applied to 76 documents spanning the 2010–2020 period. The policy orientations of 10 leading think tanks are identified, as is the strategic rationale behind their arguments. Because think tanks in the US exert tremendous influence on policymaking, the thick description conducted in this study can shed a great deal of light not only on the past but also the future scope of potential US policy options in the East China Sea.