11/18/2020: Special Duty with author Richard Samuels

Join us for the sixth edition of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies‘ latest series, New Books in Asian Studies, where we will host Richard J. Samuels, Ford International Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for International Studies at MIT, to discuss his book Special Duty: A History of the Japanese Intelligence Community with Mike Mochizuki, Director of the B.S. and B.A. in International Affairs programs at GW’s Elliott School of International Affairs.

Intelligence communities are everywhere and always in motion. Japan’s has been no exception, often shifting in response to dramatic analytical and organizational failures, changes in the regional and global balance, and sudden technological developments. In the first half of the 20th century, Japan had a full spectrum intelligence apparatus. This came apart with defeat in WWII and subordination to the United States. After the Cold War, shifts in the security environment and major intelligence failures stimulated rethinking by Tokyo. Following a period of half-hearted and incomplete reforms, the Japanese government began to enhance its collection and analysis capabilities, and to tackle in earnest the dysfunctional stovepipes and leak-prone practices hampering its intelligence system. Where do matters stand today?