Abstract

Japan is a pivotal US ally, deeply integrated with its partner in military and economic ties, and yet shares the sense of uncertainty, and potential trepidation, of other US partners, and even adversaries, over the advent of the Trump 2.0 administration. This public lecture considers the likely impact of the new Trump administration, along with changes in Japan’s own domestic politics, on its grand strategy regarding the US-Japan alliance, and issues of trade, economic security, and military policy, and Japan’s relations, not just with the US, but also with China, the Korean Peninsula, ASEAN, and other important international partners in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Will Japan seek and be able to maintain its current pathway in grand strategy, or will it need to modify its strategy, or more radically undertake a course correction?

About the Speaker

Christopher Hughes is Professor of International Politics and Japanese Studies in the Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS), University of Warwick. His research and teaching interests are in the areas of Japan’s international relations; Japanese security and defence policy; the US-Japan alliance; Japan’s defence industry; Asia-Pacific regionalism, security, and political-economy; military technology; and alliance politics. He was formerly Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education), Chair of the Faculty of Social Sciences, and Head of Department in PAIS at Warwick. He has been a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow; Research Fellow, University of Hiroshima; Visiting Associate Professor and Asahi Shimbun Visiting Chair of Mass Media and Politics, Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo; Visiting Professor at Waseda University; Visiting Professor at the Free University of Berlin; Edwin O. Reischauer Visiting Professor of Japanese Studies at the Department of Government, Harvard University; and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Nissan Institute, University of Oxford. He is a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. He has also held associate fellow status at Chatham House and the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Chris is a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, and Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Chris holds degrees from the Universities of Oxford (BA); Rochester, New York (MA); and Sheffield (MA and PhD). Chris is co-editor of The Pacific Review, one of the leading journals focussing on the international politics of the Asia-Pacific. He has authored over 60 refereed journal articles and book chapters, and five monographs. His latest monograph is Japan as a Global Military Power: New Capabilities, Alliance Integration, Bilateralism-Plus (Cambridge University Press, 2022).