The Pacific Forum, with support from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, held the Sixth US-Japan Strategic Dialogue in Maui, Hawaii on Feb. 7-8, 2013. Twenty-five experts and officials and nine Pacific Forum Young Leaders from the two countries, all attending in their private capacities, examined the impact of the 2012 elections in both countries on their relationships and the alliance, compared assessments of China and North Korea, and focused on ways to strengthen extended deterrence.