April 18, 2009Harvard University Professor and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Joseph Nye has been confirmed as the next U.S. ambassador to Japan, a senior Japanese government official has revealed.
Nye, 72, is known as an expert on Japan who has advocated strengthening the Japan-U.S. alliance, and his appointment to the post can be seen as a sign of the importance the administration of President Barack Obama assigns to Japan. Nye is expected to take up his ambassadorial duties sometime this summer.
According to the official, the Obama team had considered Nye a strong contender for the job before Obama's inauguration, but they went ahead with vetting several other candidates as well.
While Nye was serving as assistant secretary of defense under the administration of President Bill Clinton, he was the driving force behind the "redefinition" and strengthening of Japan-U.S. security arrangements in the aftermath of the Cold War.
In 2000 and 2007, Nye teamed up with Republican Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage on the "Armitage-Nye Report," a comprehensive policy paper on U.S. strategy regarding Japan that advocated pressing Japan to take on more responsibility in bilateral security arrangements.
Nye is expected to ask Japan for a great deal more support for U.S. policy in Afghanistan, among other areas, after taking up his post.
(Mainichi Japan) April 18, 2009
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