A Changing World and New Choices for Japan
A Changing World and New Choices for Japan

Speakers & Moderators

*Honorifics and titles omitted, names in no particular order.

*Some speakers will participate online.

Gen Nakatani Former Minister of Defense

Gen Nakatani

Former Minister of Defense

John J.Hamre President and CEO, CSIS

John J.Hamre

President and CEO, CSIS

James Steinberg Dean, Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)

James Steinberg

Dean, Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)

Kurt Campbell Chairman and Co-Founder, The Asia Group

Kurt Campbell

Chairman and Co-Founder, The Asia Group

Victor Cha President, Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea Chair, CSIS

Victor Cha

President, Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea Chair, CSIS

Tanaka Akihiko President, Japan International Cooperation Agency

Tanaka Akihiko

President, Japan International Cooperation Agency

Randall Schriver Chairman, Institute for Indo-Pacific Security

Randall Schriver

Chairman, Institute for Indo-Pacific Security

Kelly Ann Shaw Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Kelly Ann Shaw

Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Jimbo Ken Professor, Keio University

Jimbo Ken

Professor, Keio University

Kawano Katsutoshi Former Chief of Staff, Joint Staff, Japan Self-Defense Forces

Kawano Katsutoshi

Former Chief of Staff, Joint Staff, Japan Self-Defense Forces

Kristi Govella Senior Adviser and Japan Chair, CSIS

Kristi Govella

Senior Adviser and Japan Chair, CSIS

Demetri Sevastopulo U.S.-China Correspondent, Financial Times

Demetri Sevastopulo

U.S.-China Correspondent, Financial Times

OUTLINE

  • Title

    The 22nd CSIS/NIKKEI Symposium
    'A Changing World and New Choices for Japan'

  • Date & Time

    October 24(Fri), 2025, 9:30-13:00(JST, Tentative)

    Venue

    Tokyo
    (Participants will be notified later.)

  • Organized by

    The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
    Nikkei Inc.

  • In Cooperation with

    Japan Center for Economic Research (JCER)

  • Fee

    Free of charge
    *Pre-registration with a selection process due to limited availability.

  • Registration Deadline

    IN PERSONOctober 16 (JST)

    ONLINE STREAMING October 24 12:00 (JST)

REGISTER

PROGRAM

(as of October 23, 2025)

*Honorifics and titles omitted, names in no particular order.

**English and Japanese interpretations will be available.

***Agenda, speakers and themes are subject to change.

9:30 - 9:40

Opening Remarks

John J. Hamre

President and CEO, CSIS

9:45 - 10:50

[Session I] : How Trump 2.0 has changed Indo-Pacific

Victor Cha

President, Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea Chair, CSIS

Kelly Ann Shaw

Partner, Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
former Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs

James Steinberg

Dean, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University
former Deputy Secretary of State

Tanaka Akihiko

President, Japan International Cooperation Agency

Facilitator

Demetri Sevastopulo

U.S.-China Correspondent, Financial Times

10:50 - 11:10

[Keynote Speech] : Japan and Its National Security Outlook

Gen Nakatani

Former Minister of Defense

11:10 - 11:30
Break
11:30 - 12:35

[Session II] : Future of the Alliance – Sunrise or Sunset?

Kurt Campbell

Chairman and Co-Founder, The Asia Group
former Deputy Secretary of State

Randall Schriver

Chairman, Chairman, Institute for Indo-Pacific Security
former Assistant Secretary of Defense

Kawano Katsutoshi

Former Chief of Staff, Joint Staff, Japan Self-Defense Forces

Jimbo Ken

Professor of International Relations, Keio University

Facilitator

Kristi Govella

Senior Adviser and Japan Chair, CSIS

Organized by

In Cooperation with

Inquiry

csis2025@creative-net.co.jp

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DETAILS

John J.Hamre President and CEO, CSIS

John J.Hamre

President and CEO, CSIS

John Hamre was elected president and CEO of CSIS in January 2000. Before joining CSIS, he served as the 26th U.S. deputy secretary of defense. Prior to holding that post, he was the under secretary of defense (comptroller) from 1993 to 1997. As comptroller, Dr. Hamre was the principal assistant to the secretary of defense for the preparation, presentation, and execution of the defense budget and management improvement programs. In 2007, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates appointed Dr. Hamre to serve as chairman of the Defense Policy Board, and he served in that capacity for four secretaries of defense.

Before serving in the Department of Defense, Dr. Hamre worked for 10 years as a professional staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. During that time, he was primarily responsible for the oversight and evaluation of procurement, research, and development programs, defense budget issues, and relations with the Senate Appropriations Committee. From 1978 to 1984, Dr. Hamre served in the Congressional Budget Office, where he became its deputy assistant director for national security and international affairs. In that position, he oversaw analysis and other support for committees in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Dr. Hamre received his Ph.D., with distinction, in 1978 from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C., where his studies focused on international politics and economics and U.S. foreign policy. In 1972, he received his B.A., with high distinction, from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, emphasizing political science and economics. The following year he studied as a Rockefeller fellow at the Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Victor Cha President, Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea Chair, CSIS

Victor Cha

President, Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea Chair, CSIS

Dr. Victor Cha is president of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He is also a distinguished university professor and professor of government at Georgetown University. From 2021 to 2025, he was appointed by the Biden administration to serve on the Defense Policy Board in an advisory role to the secretary of defense. From 2004 to 2007, he served on the National Security Council (NSC), where he was responsible for Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Island nations. Dr. Cha was the U.S. deputy head of delegation at the Six Party Talks and received two outstanding service commendations during his tenure at the NSC. He is the author of nine books, including the award-winning Alignment Despite Antagonism: The United States–Korea–Japan Security Triangle (Stanford University Press, 1999), which won the 2000 Ohira Book Prize, and The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future (Ecco, 2012), selected by Foreign Affairs as a “Best Book on the Asia-Pacific for 2012.” His other books are Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies (Columbia University Press, 2003); Beyond the Final Score: The Politics of Sport in Asia (Columbia University Press, 2009); Powerplay: Origins of the American Alliance System in Asia (Princeton University Press, 2018); Korea: A New History of South and North (Yale University Press, 2023); The Black Box: Demystifying the Study of Korean Unification and North Korea (Columbia University Press, 2024); North Korea’s Sea-Based WMD Capability (Bloomsbury, 2025); and China’s Weaponization of Trade: Resistance through Collective Resilience (Columbia University Press, 2026). Dr. Cha is a two-time Fulbright scholar and a former Olin fellow at Harvard University, as well as a former Hoover, Stanford Center for International Security and Cooperation, and Koret fellow at Stanford University. He currently serves on the editorial boards of ten academic journals and is coeditor of the Contemporary Asia book series at Columbia University Press. He serves on the boards of the National Endowment for Democracy and the Korea Society and is a senior fellow at the George W. Bush Institute. Dr. Cha received his PhD, MIA, and BA from Columbia University and a BA with honors from Oxford University.

Kelly Ann Shaw Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP former Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs

Kelly Ann Shaw

Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
former Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs

Biography
  • Recognized as one of the world’s leading international trade, global economics and national security advisors with nearly two decades of policy experience.
  • Served as President Trump’s Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs and the U.S. Sherpa for the G7, G20 and APEC.
  • Served as Trade Counsel to the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee and Assistant General Counsel for the United States Trade Representative (USTR).

The Honorable Kelly Ann Shaw is a partner in Akin’s lobbying & public policy practice. She is recognized as one of the world’s leading international trade, global economics and national security advisors.

Her practice focuses on the complex intersection of trade, supply chains and geopolitics. This includes tariff and customs issues, forced labor (UFLPA), national security measures, investment restrictions, World Trade Organization (WTO) litigation, as well as arctic, energy, global financial and industrial policies.

Kelly Ann spent a decade in government service, holding a number of high-profile and influential roles as a senior U.S. negotiator, litigator, diplomat and policy advisor. Most recently, she served as President Trump’s Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs. She was one of the key architects of the administration’s trade, investment, energy and national security policies. Kelly Ann was also the United States’ lead negotiator (Sherpa) for the G7, G20 and APEC, and a key negotiator of the U.S.-China Phase One Deal, among others.

Prior to the White House, she served as Trade Counsel to the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee and Assistant General Counsel for USTR in Washington, D.C. and Geneva. Kelly Ann has represented the U.S. in more than 40 WTO disputes and served as a lead negotiator for several major U.S. trade negotiations.

Kelly Ann has been named one of Washington D.C.’s Most Influential People by the Washingtonian Magazine for four consecutive years (2022-2025), a Next Generation Partner by The Legal 500 and recognized as one of The Best Lawyers in America. She has testified multiple times before the U.S. Congress and has been a frequent media commentator for outlets around the world.

She also serves as an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School, a senior advisor (non-resident) for the Center for Strategic and International Studies and as an appointee by the U.S. to the USMCA Chapter 10 Dispute Settlement Panel Roster.

Recognitions
  • Washingtonian, 500 Most Influential People Shaping Policy, 2025.
  • Legal 500 US, Government: Government Relations, Recommended, 2021.
  • The Association of Women in International Trade (WIIT), Woman of the Year for Government Service, 2019.

James Steinberg Dean, Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) former Deputy Secretary of State

James Steinberg

Dean, Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)
former Deputy Secretary of State

James B. Steinberg is the tenth Dean of SAIS. Previously, he served as University Professor of Social Science, International Affairs and Law at Syracuse University, where he was Dean of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs for five years. Prior, he served as Deputy Secretary of State to Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, from 2009-2011. From 2005-2008, Steinberg was Dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. From 2001 to 2005, Mr. Steinberg was vice president and director of Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution. Mr. Steinberg was deputy national security advisor to President Bill Clinton from 1996 to 2000.

Steinberg’s most recent books are A Glass Half Full? Rebalance, Reassurance and Resolve and Strategic Reassurance and Resolve: US-China Relations in the 21st Century He has also authored Difficult Transitions: Foreign Policy Troubles at the Outset of Presidential Power (Brookings 2008) with Kurt Campbell.

Steinberg received his A.B from Harvard College and a J.D. from Yale Law School.

Demetri Sevastopulo U.S.-China Correspondent, Financial Times

Demetri Sevastopulo

U.S.-China Correspondent, Financial Times

Demetri covers US relations with China and the Indo-Pacific, ranging from foreign policy and security to technology and trade. He previously served as Washington Bureau Chief, US Politics Correspondent, Pentagon & CIA Correspondent and South China Correspondent. He spent four years in Hong Kong as Asia News Editor running the regional news operations.

Demetri began his career as a currency derivatives trader at Citibank in Japan. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin and has an MA in East Asian studies from Harvard University. He also studied at Beijing University and Sophia University in Tokyo. He speaks fluent Japanese, rusty Mandarin Chinese and basic Cantonese. He was born and raised in Ireland, but has lived a quarter of his life in Tokyo, Hong Kong & Beijing.

Tanaka Akihiko President, Japan International Cooperation Agency

Tanaka Akihiko

President, Japan International Cooperation Agency

Dr. TANAKA Akihiko is President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Before assuming the present post, he was President of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Japan.

Dr. Tanaka’s career includes Professor of International Politics at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, the University of Tokyo (1998-2012, 2015-2017), President of JICA (2012-2015), Executive Vice President of the University of Tokyo (2009-2012), Professor of Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, the University of Tokyo (2000-2012).

Dr. Tanaka’s specialty is international politics. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in International Relations at the University of Tokyo in 1977 and Ph.D. in Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1981.

He has numerous books and articles on world politics and security issues in Japanese and English including “The New Middle Ages: The World System in the 21st Century” (Tokyo: The International House of Japan, 2002) and “Japan in Asia: Post-Cold-War Diplomacy” (Tokyo: Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture, 2017).

Jimbo Ken Professor, Keio University

Jimbo Ken

Professor, Keio University

Dr. Jimbo Ken is a Professor of International Relations at Keio University and a Managing Director of Programs at the International House of Japan (IHJ/I-House). He is concurrently an adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the Canon Institute for Global Studies (CIGS). He served as a Special Advisor to the Minister of Defense, Japan Ministry of Defense (2020) and Senior Advisor to the National Security Secretariat (2018-20).

His main research interests are in International Security, Japan-US Security Relations, and Japan’s Foreign and Defense Policy. He has been a policy advisor for various Japanese governmental commissions and research groups, including the National Security Secretariat, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His policy writings have appeared in RAND Corporation, NBR, Stimson Center, Pacific Forum CSIS, Japan Times, Nikkei, Yomiuri, Asahi and Sankei Shimbun.

Kurt Campbell Chairman and Co-Founder, The Asia Group former Deputy Secretary of State

Kurt Campbell

Chairman and Co-Founder, The Asia Group
former Deputy Secretary of State

Dr. Kurt M. Campbell is the Chairman and Co-Founder of The Asia Group. Prior to re-joining TAG, Kurt most recently served as the 22nd Deputy Secretary of The United States Department of State, where he played a key role in strengthening America’s diplomatic standing and in modernizing the Department to meet enduring global challenges. Before assuming his role at the State Department, Kurt served as the inaugural Indo-Pacific Coordinator at the National Security Council and Deputy Assistant to the President at the White House from 2021 to 2024.

Kurt operates at the intersection of geopolitics and commerce and has devoted his career to advancing America’s interests in the Indo-Pacific. Kurt is a serial entrepreneur, having started numerous businesses, launched and led the leading national security think tank in Washington, DC, and spearheaded globally significant international initiatives. Kurt advises C-suite executives on how to navigate opportunities related to geopolitical developments and economic trends across Asia and the world. His career spans nearly four decades across the private sector, academia, military service, journalism, and government.

In the role as President Biden’s principal Indo-Pacific policy advisor, he advanced consequential foreign policy strategies across the Indo-Pacific region – from strengthening alliances and traditional partnerships throughout the region, developing economic statecraft strategies to help align US business opportunities with US foreign policy interests, managing the US-China relationship and building an enduring strategic foundation for the US-India relationship. Kurt was also a driving force behind the trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (AUKUS), which strengthened defense cooperation, secured supply chains, and advanced cutting-edge technology partnerships and the key advancements in US, Japan and Korea trilateral relations.

Prior to his most recent public service, Kurt was Chairman and Co-founder of The Asia Group. From 2009 to 2013, Kurt served as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, where he is widely credited as the key architect of the “Pivot to Asia.” Kurt began his career as an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserves, serving on surface ships, at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and in the Chief of Naval Operations Strategic Advisory Unit. He was also an Associate Professor of Public Policy and International Relations at Harvard’s John F Kennedy School of Government.

Kurt has been recognized for his service with the award of the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Award – the nation’s highest diplomatic honor. Campbell was recognized by Queen Elizabeth in her list of honors in 2014 as an Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia and as an Honorary Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his support of American relations with Australia and New Zealand respectively. He has also received top national honors from a number of key Asian and European allies.

Kurt holds a B.A. from the University of California, San Diego, a Certificate in Music and Political Philosophy from the University of Erevan in Soviet Armenia, and a Doctorate in International Relations from Brasenose College at Oxford University, where he was a Distinguished Marshall Scholar. Kurt is the author or editor of ten books, including most recently The Pivot: The Future of American Statecraft in Asia. He is married to Dr. Lael Brainard, and together they have three daughters. They live in Washington, DC, and maintain Iron Bell Farm, a historic Civil War-era property in Rappahannock County, Virginia.

Randall Schriver Chairman, Institute for Indo-Pacific Security former Assistant Secretary of Defense

Randall Schriver

Chairman, Institute for Indo-Pacific Security
former Assistant Secretary of Defense

Randall Schriver is a partner at Pacific Solution and concurrently serves as Chairman of the Board of the Project 2049 Institute, a non-profit research organization dedicated to the study of security trend lines in Asia. Randy most recently served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs from January 2018-December 2019. In that role, for nearly two years he was the senior most official at the Department of Defense responsible for managing Asia policy and the broader Indo-Pacific. Prior to his role as ASD, Randy was one of five founding partners of Armitage International LLC, a consulting firm that specializes in international business development and strategies. Randy was also CEO and President of the Project 2049 Institute.

Previous government experience include Randy's service as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (2003-05), Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of State (2001-03), and Senior Country Director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (1994-98). Prior to his civilian service, he served as an active duty Navy Intelligence Officer from 1989 to 1991, including a deployment in support of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. After active duty, he served in the Navy Reserves for nine years, including as Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and an attaché at U.S. Embassy Beijing and U.S. Embassy Ulaanbaatar. Randy serves on the Board of Directors of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council, the Board of Advisors of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, and teaches U.S. Foreign Policy at Stanford University's "Stanford-in-Washington" program.

Randy hails from Oregon, holds a bachelor degree from Williams College and a Master Degree from Harvard University.

Kawano Katsutoshi Former Chief of Staff, Joint Staff, Japan Self-Defense Forces

Kawano Katsutoshi

Former Chief of Staff, Joint Staff, Japan Self-Defense Forces

A graduate of National Defense Academy with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Admiral Kawano was commissioned as a surface warfare officer in 1979.
He earned a master's degree in International Relations from Tsukuba University in 1990. He is also a graduate of Command and Staff Course at the U.S. Naval War College.

Admiral Kawano's career as a surface warfare officer includes assignments aboard JS Haruna, JS Shirane, and JS Oyodo as Commanding Officer from August 1992 to August 1993.

His fleet command assignments include Commander, Escort Division 3; Commander, Escort Flotilla 3; Commander, Mine Warfare Force; Commander, Fleet Escort Force; and, Commander in Chief, Self-Defense Fleet prior to assuming his previous post as Chief of Staff, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force on 26 July 2012.

Some of the most notable responsibilities he has held ashore are Director General, Administration Department MSO; Director General, Operations and Plans Department MSO; and Vice Chief of Staff, Joint Staff.

Admiral Kawano had served as the 5th Chief of Staff, Joint Staff from October 14, 2014 until his retirement on April 1, 2019.

Kristi Govella

Kristi Govella

Senior Adviser and Japan Chair, CSIS

Kristi Govella is senior adviser and Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She is also associate professor of Japanese politics and international relations at the University of Oxford. Dr. Govella was previously the inaugural director of the congressionally funded Center for Indo-Pacific Affairs at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, where she was also assistant professor of Asian studies from 2018 to 2024. From 2021 to 2022, she was senior fellow and deputy director of the Asia Program at the Washington, DC, headquarters of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, where she led the Japan and Korea portfolios. From 2017 to 2018, she conducted research as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University’s Program on U.S.-Japan Relations. From 2016 to 2017, Dr. Govella was associate professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, where she taught security-related courses for military and civilian representatives of the United States and Indo-Pacific countries and briefed U.S. government officials on regional issues. She has also been a visiting research fellow at the University of Tokyo and Waseda University and an adjunct fellow at the East-West Center and Pacific Forum. Dr. Govella is a widely published author and commentator in major outlets, and her work has examined topics such as economic statecraft, government-business relations, regional institutional architecture, military alliances, critical and emerging technologies, and the governance of the maritime, outer space, and cyber domains. She also serves as co-editor of the journal Asia Policy. She holds a PhD and an MA in political science from the University of California, Berkeley and a BA in political science and Japanese from the University of Washington, Seattle.

Kristi Govella

Gen Nakatani

Former Minister of Defense

Date of Birth: 14 October, 1957
Domicile: Kochi Prefecture
Member of the House of Representatives,
1st Electoral District, Kochi Prefecture (Elected 11 times)
In-House Group: Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP)

Education
Mar 1980
Graduated from National Defense Academy (Faculty of Science and Engineering)
Former Ground Self-Defense Force Official
Former Ranger Instructor
Political Career
Dec 1984
Retired from the Ground Self-Defense Force
Feb 1990
Elected as a member of the House of Representatives
Aug 1995
Parliamentary Secretary for National Land (The Murakami Cabinet, Reshuffle)
Sep 1997
Parliamentary Secretary for Posts and Telecommunications (The 2nd Hashimoto Cabinet, Reshuffle)
Jul 2000
Senior State Secretary for Home Affairs (The 2nd Mori Cabinet)
Apr 2001
Minister of State for Defense (The 1st Koizumi Cabinet)
Nov 2005
Chair, General Council
Dec 2014
Minister of Defense and Minister in charge of Security Legislation (The 3rd Abe Cabinet, Reshuffle)
Oct 2015
Minister of Defense (The 3rd Abe Cabinet)
Oct 2021
Special Advisor to the Prime Minister for international human rights issue (The 2nd Kishida Cabinet)
Aug 2022
Special Advisor to the Prime Minister for international human rights issue (The 2nd Kishida Cabinet, Reshuffle)
Oct 2024
Appointed as Minister of Defense (The 1st Ishiba Cabinet)
Nov 2024
Appointed as Minister of Defense (The 2nd Ishiba Cabinet)