Given that East Asia currently only provides opportunity for small steps towards stability, both countries should look to West Asia for more prominent means by which to build cooperation. By doing so, both can increase their national security, build stronger ties throughout West Asia, and further institutionalize the relationship that will define the world for the next century.

Jeffrey Payne is the academic resources coordinator at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, DC. You can follow him on Twitter @JeffreyPayneFP. The views expressed in this article are his alone and do not represent the official policy or position of the National Defense University, the Department of Defense or the U.S. government.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/Belksy. CC BY-SA 3.0.