Asia’s Geopolitical Landscape: China’s Rise & U.S.-Japan Relations

Live Webinar

Monday, May 9 at 7-8 pm EST | Calculate your local time

The present conflict between Ukraine and Russia is altering the global geopolitical landscape, bringing about a major shift in relations between Russia and Western nations. In addition, as China’s influence continues to grow in Asia and around the world, U.S.-China relations are increasingly strained, with the major powers disagreeing on trade, technology, security and, more recently, the future of Taiwan. How does the current uncertainty affect U.S.-Japan relations and what are the priorities for the U.S.-Japan alliance? How will the Quad impact Asia’s geopolitics? In this webinar, speakers examine the current state of world affairs, and discuss the implications for Japan and the U.S.-Japan security alliance.

Watch the full program:

Speakers

Nobukatsu Kanehara, Professor, Doshisha University; Senior Advisor, The Asia Group; former Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

Joseph Nye, University Distinguished Service Professor, Emeritus & former Dean, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs

Moderator

Takako Hikotani, Professor, Gakushuin University International Centre; Visiting Professor, School of Global Policy and Strategy, University of California at San Diego

Agenda

7-8 pm EST – Discussion and Q&A Session

Program Details

This is a free event, with advance registration required. The program will be live-streamed through YouTube, and registrants will receive the viewing link by email the day before the event. Participants can submit questions through YouTube during the live stream.

About the Speakers

Mr. Nobukatsu Kanehara served as Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe from 2012 to 2019. In 2013, Mr. Kanehara also became the inaugural Deputy Secretary-General of the National Security Secretariat, a role which he held until his retirement from government service in 2019. He also served as Deputy Director of the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office.

Mr. Kanehara’s role in the Cabinet built on a distinguished career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he served in a number of notable positions. These included the Director-General of Bureau of International Law, Deputy Director-General of the Foreign Policy Bureau, Ambassador in charge of the United Nations and Human Rights, He served abroad as Deputy Chief of Mission in Seoul, Republic of Korea and Political Minister at the Embassy of Japan in Washington. He was decorated by the president of Republic of France with l’Ordre de la Legion d’Honneur.

Joseph S. Nye, Jr. is University Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus and former Dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He received his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from Princeton University, won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford, and earned a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard. He has served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Chair of the National Intelligence Council, and a Deputy Under Secretary of State. His most recent books include The Powers to Lead, The Future of Power, Presidential Leadership and the Creation of the American Era, and Do Morals Matter? Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the British Academy, and the American Academy of Diplomacy. In a recent survey of international relations scholars, he was ranked as the most influential scholar on American foreign policy, and in 2011, Foreign Policy named him one of the top 100 Global Thinkers. In 2014, Japan awarded him the Order of the Rising Sun.

About the Moderator

Takako Hikotani is Professor at Gakushuin University International Centre, and concurrently Visiting Professor at the School of Global Policy and Strategy, University of California at San Diego and Policy Fellow at Asia Society Policy Institute / Asia Society Japan. From 2016 to 2021, she was the Gerald L. Curtis Associate Professor of Modern Japanese Politics and Foreign Policy at Columbia University, and has previously taught at the National Defense Academy of Japan. Her publications (in English) include, “The Japanese Diet and defense policy-making,” International Affairs, 94:1, July, 2018; “Trump’s Gift to Japan: Time for Tokyo to Invest in the Liberal Order,” Foreign Affairs, September/October 2017. Takako received her B.A. and M.A. from Keio University, M.A. from Stanford　University, and Ph.D. from Columbia University where she was a President’s Fellow.