Sheila Smith

Dr. Sheila Smith is the John E. Merow Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). An expert on Japanese politics and foreign policy, she is the author of Japan Rearmed: The Politics of Military Power (Harvard University Press, 2019), Intimate Rivals: Japanese Domestic Politics and a Rising China (Columbia University Press, 2015), and Japan’s New Politics and the U.S.-Japan Alliance (Council on Foreign Relations Press, 2014). She is also the author of the CFR interactive guide “Constitutional Change in Japan.” Dr. Smith is a regular contributor to the CFR blog Asia Unbound and a frequent contributor to major media outlets in the United States and Asia. She teaches as an adjunct professor at the Asian studies department of Georgetown University and serves on the board of its Journal of Asian Affairs. She also serves on the advisory committee for the U.S.-Japan network for the future program of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation. Dr. Smith earned her master’s and doctoral degrees from the Department of Political Science at Columbia University.