The Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Town Hall is honored to host Sheila A. Smith, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, based in Washington, D.C.
Japan has one of Asia’s most technologically advanced militaries and yet struggles to use its hard power as an instrument of national policy. The horrors of World War II continue to haunt policymakers in Tokyo, while China and South Korea remain wary of any military ambitions Japan may entertain. Yet a fundamental shift in East Asian geopolitics has forced Japan to rethink the commitment to pacifism it made during the U.S. occupation. The military, once feared as a security liability, now appears to be an indispensable asset, called upon with increasing frequency and given a seat at the policy-making table.
In her book, Japan Rearmed, Sheila A. Smith argues that Japan is not only responding to increasing threats from North Korean missiles and Chinese maritime activities but also reevaluating its dependence on the United States. No longer convinced that they can rely on Americans to defend Japan, Tokyo’s political leaders are now confronting the possibility that they may need to prepare the nation’s military for war.
***Sheila Smith's book "Japan Rearmed: The Politics of Military Power" will be available to purchase***
Sheila A. Smith, an expert on Japanese politics and foreign policy, is senior fellow for Japan studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). She is the author of Japan Rearmed: The Politics of Military Power (Harvard University Press, 2019), Intimate Rivals: Japanese Domestic Politics and a Rising China (Columbia University Press, 2015), which was 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 (Tokyo University Press, 2018), and Japan's New Politics and the U.S.-Japan Alliance (Council on Foreign Relations, June 2014). Smith is also the author of the CFR interactive guide, “Constitutional Change in Japan.”
Japan America Society of Southern California is pleased to serve as a Cooperating Organization for this special LAWAC & Town Hall breakfast program.
JASSC Members can can use the code "JAS" at the online checkout to receive the member rate for the event and save $15 per ticket.
Thursday, November 14, 2019
8:00am - 9:30am
Akasha Cafe
9543 Culver Boulevard, Culver City, CA 90232
$36 LAWAC & Town Hall and JASSC Members
$51 Non-members & Guests
For tickets, please visit the LAWAC & Town Hall website by clicking here.
