LISTEN: The U.S.-Japan Alliance in a Turbulent World
The U.S.-Japan Alliance in a Turbulent World
With Ken Jimbo and Sheila Smith
Moderated by Susan A. Thornton
April 23, 2024
On April 23, 2024, the NCAFP hosted an in-person program on the current U.S.-Japan alliance. Our esteemed speakers included Professor Ken Jimbo, Professor at the Faculty of Policy Management at Keio University; Dr. Sheila A. Smith, John E. Merow Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations; and Ms. Susan A. Thornton, Director of NCAFP’s Forum on Asia-Pacific Security.
They discussed the significance of the U.S.-Japan summit, explored implications of the coming U.S. elections, and tackled challenges such as North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, maritime security issues, and the importance of engaging with Southeast Asia in addressing common security concerns. Listen to these experts dive into how the U.S. and Japan can navigate the complexities of today’s turbulent world and how they can uphold stability and peace in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
About the speakers:
Professor Ken Jimbo is Professor at the Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University. He served as a Special Advisor to the Minister of Defense, Japan Ministry of Defense (2020) and a Senior Advisor, The National Security Secretariat (2018-20). His main research fields are in International Security, Japan-US Security Relations, Japanese Foreign and Defense Policy, Multilateral Security in Asia-Pacific, and Regionalism in East Asia. He has been a policy advisor for various Japanese governmental commissions and research groups including for the National Security Secretariat, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His policy writings have appeared in NBR, The RAND Corporation, Stimson Center, Pacific Forum CSIS, Japan Times, Nikkei, Yomiuri, Asahi and Sankei Shimbun.
Dr. Sheila A. Smith is John E. Merow senior fellow for Asia-Pacific studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). An expert on Japanese politics and foreign policy, she is the author of Japan Rearmed: The Politics of Military Power, Intimate Rivals: Japanese Domestic Politics and a Rising China (released in Japanese as 日中 親愛なる宿敵: 変容する日本政治と対中政策), and Japan’s New Politics and the U.S.-Japan Alliance. She is also the author of the CFR interactive guide Constitutional Change in Japan. Smith is a regular contributor to the CFR blog Asia Unbound and a frequent contributor to major media outlets in the United States and Asia.
Smith joined CFR from the East-West Center in 2007, where she directed a multinational research team in a cross-national study of the domestic politics of the U.S. military presence in Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines. She was a visiting scholar at Keio University in 2007-08, where she researched Japan’s foreign policy towards China, supported by the Abe Fellowship. Smith has been a visiting researcher at two leading Japanese foreign and security policy think tanks, the Japan Institute of International Affairs and the Research Institute for Peace and Security, and at the University of Tokyo and the University of the Ryukyus.
Smith is chair of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission (JUSFC) and the U.S. advisors to the U.S.-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULCON), a binational advisory panel of government officials and private-sector members. She teaches as an adjunct professor at the Asian studies department of Georgetown University and serves on the board of its Journal of Asian Affairs. She also serves on the advisory committee for the U.S.-Japan Network for the Future program of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation. Smith earned her MA and PhD from the political science department at Columbia University.