April 30, 1999
Contact:
Ann Marie Deer Owens, (615) 322-2706
[email protected]
MEDIA ADVISORY Vanderbilt expert says security concerns provide backdrop to U.S.-Japan summit
James E. Auer, an expert on U.S.-Japanese defense relations and overall strategic policies between the two nations, is available to discuss the possible outcomes of the May 3 meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's meeting with President Clinton. Auer, who is director of the Center for U.S.-Japan Studies at the Vanderbilt University Institute for Public Policy Studies, is among those defense experts who believe Japan, the United States and South Korea should reaffirm their commitment to a trilateral approach to head off any threat from North Korea.
He has also expressed concern about Japan's planned updating of Japan-U.S. defense guidelines and Japan's response in an emergency. Auer says that if there is a crisis in Korea and the U.S. fights and many Americans die -- and if Japan just "holds the Americans' coats or carries the body bags" -- Americans will become angry and question why the United States maintains a treaty with Japan. Auer, who also opposes promoting bilateral negotiations with North Korea, is a former special assistant for Japan in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He can be reached at (615) 343-6989 or (615) 794-3928 (home). He also can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected]
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