Speaker biographies

Michael Auslin studies U.S.-Asian relations, Japanese foreign policy, and Asian security as a resident scholar at AEI. Previously, Mr. Auslin was an associate professor of history and senior research fellow at the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University. He has been named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, a Marshall Memorial Fellow by the German Marshall Fund, an Asia 21 Young Leader, and a Fulbright and Japan Foundation Scholar. His writings on Japan and Japanese diplomacy include the books Negotiating with Imperialism: The Unequal Treaties and the Culture of Japanese Diplomacy (Harvard University Press, 2006) and Japan Society: Celebrating a Century, 1907-2007 (Japan Society, 2007).

Mark Manyin is a specialist in Asian affairs at the Congressional Research Service (CRS), a nonpartisan agency that provides information and analysis to members of the U.S. Congress and their staff. At CRS, Mr. Manyin’s general area of expertise is U.S. foreign policy with East Asia, particularly Japan, the Koreas, and Vietnam. He also has tracked the evolution of terrorism in Southeast Asia. He has written academic articles on Vietnam and Korea, taught courses in East Asian international relations, worked as a business consultant, and lived in Japan for a total of three years.

Hideki Wakabayashi is a visiting fellow at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, where he researches U.S.-Japanese relations and cooperation, development, and global security. Previously, he was a member of the upper house of the Japanese Diet from 2001-2007, where he served on the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and defense, and was the shadow minister of economy and industry and the shadow vice minister of finance for the Democratic Party of Japan. From 1997-2001, he was the vice director of the Electric Research Center, and from 1997-1996 he was the first secretary of the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C.  He was employed at the Yamaha Corporation from 1980-1990.

Masaki Taniguchi is an associate professor of Japanese politics in the graduate school of law and politics at the University of Tokyo. His also lectures at Rikkyo University and Aoyama Gakuin University, is a member of the Ministry of International Affairs and Communication’s National Committee for the Management of Political Funds, and serves as a board member of the Japanese Political Science Association. Mr. Taniguchi is the author of numerous articles and books, including Politics and Democracy (University of Tokyo Press, 2002), coauthored with Arihiro Fukuda, and Electoral Reform in Japan (University of Tokyo Press, 2004). He is the editor, with Samuel Popkin and Ikuo Kabashima, of the forthcoming book Changing Media, Changing Politics (University of Tokyo Press).

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