Defense Transparency Improves Modestly in the 2020-21 Defense Transparency Index
Japan ranked first in the 2020-21 Northeast Asia Defense Transparency Index, a project of the University of California’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, with the United States and South Korea coming in second and third place. Amidst growing distrust in East Asia, especially in the security arena, a modest average increase in defense transparency among ranked countries—China, Japan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, the United States and Russia—is cause for cautious optimism.