On May 23, AFPC Director of Asian Security Programs and Kraemer Strategy Fellow Jeff M. Smith embarked on a weeklong trip to India and Japan to conduct research for a number of ongoing projects related to Asian security. While in Delhi and Tokyo, Smith interviewed government officials and experts from a diverse range of think tanks and research institutes, including India’s Observer Research Foundation, Center for Policy Research, Vivekenanda International Foundation, and United Services Institute.
Smith also delivered a lecture to analysts at the Delhi-based Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis on U.S. perceptions of Prime Minister Modi’s foreign policy.
In Japan, Smith spoke with experts from the Institute of Energy Economics, the Tokyo Foundation, and the Japan Institute for International Affairs. Smith’s research focused on Japanese and Indian reactions to the shale gas revolution and the geopolitical implications of changes in the energy markets for Asian security. His interviews also touched upon Indian and Japanese perceptions of China’s more aggressive foreign policy under President Xi Jinping, China’s artificial island-building spree in the disputed South China Sea, China’s New Silk Road Initiative and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the budding Indo-Japan strategic partnership, and other recent security developments in the Indo-Pacific.
Smith is serving as a contributing author to several forthcoming monographs and books on Asian security issues.