About the Event
Hiroyuki Akita, Commentator, Nikkei
Japan and the Great Power Competition
Japan is now located in one of the most dangerous geopolitical place in the world. Surrounded by China, which is rapidly strengthening its military power, and Russia, which increasingly behave more assertively both in Europe and Asian fronts. Japan is also under North Korea’s nucelar threat. Furthermore, the risk of conflict between the US and China seems to be rising gradually in Taiwan Strait. What kind of geo-strategy is Japan trying to adopt to survive such a difficult environment? While looking at the policies of the Kishida administration, this session will analyze the future course of Japan.
Emma Chanlett-Avery, Specialist in Asian Affairs, Congressional Research Service
“The U.S.-Japan Alliance: the View from Washington”
Emma Chanlett-Avery will present a perspective on the U.S.-Japan alliance from Washington, D.C. How has the Biden Administration prioritized the U.S.-Japan alliance? How does the alliance fit within the recently-released Indo-Pacific strategy? Touching on both congressional and executive branch perspectives, Ms. Chanlett-Avery will address the centrality of the U.S.-Japan alliance, the growing network of other security partnerships such as the Quad, and how Washington and Tokyo coordinate their approach to regional challenges. What are the areas of tension in the alliance? Will Japan’s upcoming release of its National Security Strategy align with U.S. policy? To what extent is Japan developing a more autonomous approach to its own defense?
About the Speakers
Hiroyuki Akita is a Commentator of Nikkei. He regularly writes commentaries and columns, analysis mainly on foreign & international security affairs. He joined Nikkei in 1987 and worked at Political News Dept.(98-2002) where he covered Japanese foreign & security policies, domestic politics. He was Senior & Editorial Staff Writer (2009-17) , and he also worked at “Leader Writing Team ” of the Financial Times in London (Oct-Dec, 17). He was Beijing Correspondent (94-98) and Washington Chief Correspondent (2002-06). In Beijing, he reported major news events such as death of Deng Xiaoping, Hong Kong handover to China. In Washington DC, he covered White House & Pentagon, State Department during Bush administration. He graduated from Jiyu Gakuen College in 1987 and Boston University (M.A.). From 2006 to 07, he was an associate of US-Japan Program at Harvard University, where he conducted a research on US-China-Japan relations. In March 2019, he won the Vaughn-Ueda International Journalist Award, a prize for outstanding reporting of international affairs. He is an author of two books in Japanese: “Anryu (Power Game of US-China-Japan)”(2008), “Ranryu (Strategic Competition of US-Japan and China)”(2016).
Emma Chanlett-Avery is a Specialist in Asian Affairs at the Congressional Research Service. She focuses on U.S. relations with Japan, the Korean Peninsula, Thailand, and Singapore, with an emphasis on security issues and alliances. Ms. Chanlett-Avery joined CRS in 2003 through the Presidential Management Fellowship, with rotations in the State Department on the Korea Desk and at the Joint U.S. Military Advisory Group in Bangkok, Thailand. She also worked in the Office of Policy Planning as a Harold Rosenthal Fellow. She is Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of the National Association of Japan America Societies, a member of the Mansfield Foundation U.S. – Japan Network for the Future, Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Japan America Society of Washington, and the 2016 recipient of the Kato Prize. Ms. Chanlett-Avery received an MA in international security policy from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and her BA in Russian studies from Amherst College.
This program is part of the Japan Currents series and is sponsored by the National Association of Japan-America Societies and the Embassy of Japan in Washington, DC.
