Lowy Lecture Series: China’s rise, America’s pivot, and Japan’s choice - Lieutenant General Noboru Yamaguchi, JGSDF (Ret.)
The security landscape in the Asia-Pacific region will mainly be determined in the long term by two significant actors, the People’s Republic of China and the United States. China’s rise has been and will be an extremely prominent factor; while how fast and in which direction China proceeds are open questions. The US has taken a significant step to stay involved in the region by declaring that it will rebalance towards the Asia-Pacific. For architects of Japan’s security strategy, it is crucially important, according to Lt Gen Yamaguchi, to, first, scrutinise both the negative and positive impacts of China’s rise without any bias; second, have a clear picture of the rebalancing by the US with an understanding of the roles of American allies for proper implementation of this policy; and third, develop courses of action and possible policies for Japan to better serve the region’s peace and stability.
The lecture has been made possible by the support of Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Lieutenant General Noboru Yamaguchi, JGSDF (Ret.) is now professor and Director for International Programs of the National Defense Academy of Japan. He graduated from the NDA majoring in applied physics in 1974 and trained as an army aviator mainly flying helicopters. He received his MA from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University in 1988 and was a National Security Fellow at John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies, Harvard University 1991-1992. Lt Gen Yamaguchi’s major assignments include Senior Defense Attaché at the Japanese Embassy in the United States (1999-2001), Deputy Commandant of GSDF Aviation School (2001-2003), Director for Research of the GSDF Research and Development Command (2003-2005), Vice President of the National Institute for Defense Studies (2005-2006) and Commanding General of the GSDF Research and Development Command (2006-2008). After retiring from active duty in December 2008, Lt Gen Yamaguchi started teaching military history and strategy in April 2009. After the East Japan Great Earthquake, he served at the Prime Minister’s Official Residence as Special Adviser to the Cabinet on Crisis Management from March to September, 2011.
