Japan’s Rise as a Regional and Global Power, 2013-2023

On June 17, 2024, Brad Glosserman (Tama University and Pacific Forum) joined the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa to talk about his new book "Japan’s Rise as a Regional and Global Power, 2013-2023: A Momentous Decade," co-edited with Gilbert Rozman (Princeton University). Glosserman and collaborators follow a momentous decade in the transformation of Japanese foreign policy from 2013 to 2023 that unveils Japan in a new light as a leading power more closely aligned with the United States than ever before but with distinct aspirations. The book presents a comprehensive chronology, a broad sweep of relations with regional partners, and a look at new relations with Europe. Zeroing in on the legacy of Abe Shinzo, it pays special attention to the leadership of Kishida Fumio in response to the Biden administration, the Ukraine war, the growing alarm about China, the swings in ties to South Korea, and Japan’s hopes to be a bridge with Southeast Asia and India. The discussion was moderated by Kristi Govella (Director, Center for Indo-Pacific Affairs, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa).
Brad Glosserman is deputy director of and visiting professor at the Tama University Center for Rule Making Strategies and senior advisor for Pacific Forum. For 15 years, he was the executive director of Pacific Forum. He is the author of Peak Japan: The End of Grand Ambitions (Georgetown University Press, 2019), and co-author, with Scott Snyder, of The Japan-ROK Identity Clash (Columbia University Press, 2015). He is the editor, with Tae-hyo Kim, of The Future of US-Korea-Japan Relations: Balancing Values and Interests (Pacific Forum, 2004). His opinion pieces and commentary regularly appear in media around the globe, and he has written dozens of monographs on U.S. foreign policy and Asian security relations. Other articles have appeared in scholarly journals throughout the region, and he has contributed numerous chapters to books on regional security. Mr. Glosserman is the English-language editor of the journal of the New Asia Research Institute (NARI) in Seoul. He is a frequent participant in US State Department and US Navy visiting lecture programs and speaks at conferences, research institutes, and universities around the world. He is a guest professor at the Osaka University School of International and Public Policy (OSIPP) and an adjunct lecturer at the Management Center of Innsbruck (MCI). Prior to joining Pacific Forum, he was a member of The Japan Times editorial board for 10 years, and he continues to serve as a contributing editor for the newspaper. He holds a J.D. from George Washington University, an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a B.A. from Reed College.
This event was cosponsored by the Center for Indo-Pacific Affairs and the Center for Japanese Studies at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.