Ambassador Aftab Seth is Director of the Global Security Research Institute
at Keio University. Previously he has been Ambassador of India to
Japan, the Federal States of Micronesia, Vietnam and Greece. After
joining India’s Ministry of External Affairs, he has worked
in embassies and consulates in Beirut, Cairo, Hamburg, Jakarta and
Karachi. Ambassador Seth received a B.A. (Honors) from
St. Stephen’s
College, Delhi University, an M.A. from Christ Church College, Oxford
University, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar, and a Doctorate
of Laws from the American College of Greece. He also received a certificate
of enrollment with distinction in Japanese Language and History from
Keio University. Ambassador Seth has published a book in Japanese
entitled “How Much Weight Can an Elephant Lose?” (2002)
and a volume of poems entitled “Pillars of Landscape” (1995),
as well as several articles and reviews in newspapers and magazines.
Ambassador William Clark,
Jr. is Managing Director of Hills & Company. Previously he was President
of the Japan Society, Inc. He has held many senior positions in the Department
of State, including Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific
Affairs, Ambassador to India, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and Deputy Chief Mission at the U.S.
Embassy, Tokyo. He also held the Japan Chair at CSIS. Ambassador Clark received
a B.A. and honorary Doctor of Letters degree from San Jose State University.
He also did postgraduate work at the National War College. Ambassador Clark
has received numerous awards, including the Order of the Sacred Treasure
Gold and Silver Star, conferred by the Emperor of Japan (2000), and the Department
of State Distinguished Honor Award (1989).
Dr. Philip Oldenburg is Adjunct Research Associate
at the Southern Asian Institute, Columbia University. He has taught
political science at Columbia University since 1977, as a member
of the regular faculty and as director and associate director of
the Southern Asian Institution. Dr. Oldenburg has spent a total
of more than a decade in India since his first trip in 1964, doing
research, consulting, and assisting delegations. He was also a
member of the Council of Foreign Relations-Asia Society Independent
Task Force on U.S. Policy Toward South Asia. Dr. Oldenburg received
a B.A. from Brandeis University, and an MA. and Ph.D. from the
University of Chicago. He has published India Briefing: Quickening
the Pace of Change (editor, with Alyssa Ayres, 2002), and “Politics
in India” in Students’ Britannica India (2000) and
will soon publish India Briefing 2004 (editor, with Alyssa Ayres).
Dr. Erland Heginbotham is
Professor of Asian Studies at the Johns Hopkins University,
School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He also teaches
at the National Foreign Affairs Training Center (Foreign Service
Institute) in
Virginia. Dr. Heginbotham is a retired diplomat from the U.S. Foreign
Service; he served at several American embassies in Indonesia,
Vietnam, Liberia and Korea. He is a former Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State
for East Asia and the first Director-General of the U.S. Foreign
Commercial Service. He founded Gateway Japan, a print and on-line
clearinghouse of information on Japan and Northeast Asia, co-sponsored
by the National Policy Association and the University of Maryland.
He has authored several books and numerous articles on East Asia.
He is currently writing a book, Asian Economic
Development and Dynamics.
The strong performance of the Indian economy in recent years and
the return of a period of growth in Japan after years of stagnation have captured the attention
of observers in many countries. Ambassador Seth will talk about
India’s vision of the
emerging world in the 21st century and the resurgence of Asia,
and will highlight certain aspects of India’s
political and economic growth. He will also discuss India’s
relations with Japan and the positive developments in its relations
with the USA.
This event is supported in part by a grant from The Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Japan.
