Dr. Funabashi Yoichi is Columnist and Chief Diplomatic Correspondent for the Asahi Shimbun
and is currently serving as Distinguished Guest Scholar at the Brookings
Institution. He is also a Contributing Editor of Foreign Policy. Previously
he was American General Bureau Chief (1993-97), Correspondent in Washington
(1984-87), and Correspondent in Beijing (1980-81) for the Asahi Shimbun.
In 1985 he received the Vaughn-Ueda Prize for his reporting on international
affairs. He won the Japan Press Award, known as Japan’s “Pulitzer
Prize,” in 1994 for his columns on foreign policy, and his articles
in Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy won the Ishibashi Tanzan Prize in
1992. Dr. Funabashi received his B.A. from the University of Tokyo and
his Ph.D. from Keio University. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University
(1975-76), a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for International Economics
(1987), and a Donald Keene Fellow at Columbia University (2003). His books
in English include Reconciliation in the Asia-Pacific (Editor, 2003), Alliance
Tomorrow (Editor, 2001), and Alliance Adrift (1998), which won the Shincho
Arts and Sciences Award.
Dr. Michael Green is Senior Adviser and Japan Chair at CSIS, as well
as an Associate Professor of International Relations at Georgetown
University. He served as Special Assistant to the President for National
Security Affairs and Senior Director for Asian Affairs at the National
Security Council (NSC) from January 2004 to December 2005. He joined
the NSC in April 2001 as Director of Asian Affairs with responsibility
for Japan, Korea and Australia/New Zealand. Previously he was Senior
Fellow for Asian Security at the Council on Foreign Relations, Senior
Adviser to the Office of Asia Pacific Affairs at the Department of
Defense, Research Staff Member at the Institute for Defense Analyses,
and Assistant Professor of Asian Studies at SAIS. Dr. Green speaks
fluent Japanese and spent over five years in Japan working as a staff
member of the National Diet and as a journalist for Japanese and
American newspapers. He received his B.A. from Kenyon College and
his Ph.D. from SAIS. His major publications include Japan’s
Reluctant Realism (2001), The U.S.-Japan Alliance (1999), and Arming
Japan (1995).
The U.S.-Japan alliance faces new challenges in the rapidly changing
East Asia region. Dr. Funabashi will discuss the challenges
of China’s rise, the current tensions of the Sino-Japanese
relationship, the progress of the Six-Party Talks and North
Korea’s nuclear program, and “history issues” among
Japan, China and Korea. He will examine the impact of Japan’s
domestic political situation on its foreign policy, including
the debate over Japan becoming a “normal” country,
the weakening of the LDP, and increasing support for a more
independent and active foreign policy from potential Japanese
prime ministers.
This event is supported in part by a grant from The Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Japan.
