James L. Schoff

James L. Schoff is director of Asia-Pacific studies at the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis. Mr. Schoff is currently on a leave of absence and on assignment to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asia Pacific Security Affairs.

research projects
publications
conferences & workshops
articles & presentations

After Hatoyama: Preparing for Japanese Foreign Policy in Transition: This project studies the challenges that the recently elected Japanese government faces as it tries to develop viable alternatives to the bilateralism on which its foreign policy has been predicated for over fifty years.; project details || From Rhetoric to Reality (1.51 MB)
New Strategic Dynamics in the Arctic Region: Implications for National Security and International Collaboration: This project explores and assesses trends that together could transform the Arctic from a relative strategic backwater to a strategic crossroads of global importance.; project details || monograph (47.36 MB) || selected readings
Peace Regime Building for a Nuclear Weapon-free Korean Peninsula: Next Steps for Capacity Building: In cooperation with institutional partners in Northeast Asia, IFPA is leading a nongovernmental multinational working group to discuss, research, and draft a joint proposal for a Korean peace regime that complements related inter-Korean efforts and facilitates North Korean denuclearization.; interim report (2.65 MB) || project details
The U.S.-Japan Alliance and the Future of Extended Deterrence: In the new setting since North Korea’s nuclear test, this project, completed in 2009, undertakes a fresh assessment of thinking in Japan and the United States about extended deterrence in Northeast Asia.; project report (1.86 MB) || project details
Support to the Defense Department, Combatant Commands, and Military Service Leadership: This is an ongoing project for the Department of Defense (DoD), for which the Institute provides detailed policy reports and organizes high-level workshops on critical issues of national security for DoD, combatant command (COCOM), and military service leaderships.; project details
In Times of Crisis: Global and Local Civil-Military Disaster Relief Coordination in the United States and Japan: With support from the Japan Foundation's Center for Global Partnership (CGP), IFPA led this collaborative effort, completed in 2009, by U.S. and Japanese specialists to conduct research and foster dialogue among civilian and military groups for the purposes of improving their civil-military communication in domestic and international crises.; monograph front matter and executive summary (3.59 MB) || full monograph available for purchase ($25) || project details
Building Six-Party Capacity for a WMD-Free Korea: This three-year study completed in 2008 involves all of the countries in the six-party process and examines how these countries can build a regional organization to help implement the key aspects of a denuclearization agreement reached with North Korea.; project details
Identifying Trends in Japan-DPRK Relations and Implications for U.S. Policy: This project, funded by the Smith-Richardson Foundation and completed in 2006, examined the determining factors behind Japan's evolving North Korea policy and how they will affect America's strategic and tactical approaches to the DPRK.; report (1.38 MB) || project details
Building on the Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group (TCOG): Exploring the Prospects for Expanding the TCOG Process as a Key U.S.-South Korea and U.S.-Japan Alliance Management Tool: This two-year project was completed in 2005. With a grant from the Japan Foundation’s Center for Global Partnership (CGP) IFPA collaborated with leading policy research institutions in Japan and South Korea on a policy research project to strengthen the U.S.-Japan and U.S.-South Korea relationships and enhance regional stability by improving the tools for alliance management.; monograph (1.87 MB) || related article (34 KB)

In Times of Crisis: U.S.-Japan Civil-Military Disaster Relief Coordination: James L. Schoff and Marina Travayiakis; May 2009, 144 pp
Description: The many large-scale natural disasters and ambitious nation-building projects over the last several years call attention to the potential value of deploying national military assets in support of disaster relief and recovery efforts, as well as to the challenges that disaster relief agencies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) face when working closely with the military. Both U.S. and Japanese policy makers understand that leveraging military resources during a disaster is an opportunity to save lives and property, to help maintain stability and prosperity in affected nations, and to promote the allies' diplomatic interests, but it must be done carefully. Together with a handful of other key countries, the United States and Japan can help form a valuable crisis core group that cooperates in support of large-scale, UN-led disaster relief operations, but effective civil-military coordination is essential to making this work. The In Times of Crisis project was a multi-year joint effort of the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis (IFPA) and the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), involving practitioners and policy makers from both countries, the United Nations, and NGOs through interviews and bilateral workshops. This monograph explains the team's findings and ways to improve the allies' ability to effectively pool civilian and military resources and to respond together (bilaterally or as part of a broader coalition) in support of host nations and international relief agencies to speed recovery in times of crisis.; front matter and executive summary (3.59 MB) || full monograph available for purchase ($25) || project details
Peace Regime Building for a Nuclear Weapon-free Korean Peninsula: What Next?: James L. Schoff and Yaron Eisenberg; May 2009
Description: North Korea's recent nuclear test is only the latest in a series of moves by Pyongyang that seem directed at "shaping a new diplomatic framework" for the Korean Peninsula, rejecting the Six-Party process and returning to its traditional insistence on bilateral talks with the United States to end the Korean War. These developments illustrate the strong linkages between North Korean denuclearization and peace regime building on the Korean Peninsula (i.e., trying to institute a political solution to the Korean War beyond just a military armistice). Working with partners in South Korea, the United States, and China, IFPA is in the middle of a three-year project exploring peace regime building on the Korean Peninsula in ways that support and facilitate the denuclearization objectives of the Six-Party Talks; this interim report describes the results of over a year's worth of interviews, research, and a U.S.-South Korea bilateral workshop, up to and including North Korea's May 2009 nuclear test.; project report (2.65 MB) || project details
Realigning Priorities: The U.S.-Japan Alliance and the Future of Extended Deterrence: James L. Schoff; May 2009
Description: North Korea's missile/rocket launch over Japan and maritime skirmishes in the South China Sea between the United States and China place new burdens on the U.S.-Japan security relationship. For more than two generations the United States has provided a security guarantee to Japan that is backed by the U.S. nuclear capability. The future of this extended deterrence relationship is the focus of this report. It addresses evolving discussion about deterrence in Japan as well as the United States and examines the conditions under which Japan might consider new approaches to assuring its future security.; project report (1.86 MB) || project details
The Six-Party Talks and New Opportunities to Strengthen Regional Nonproliferation and Disarmament Efforts: Matthew Martin; March 2009
Description: Report of an October 2008 conference sponsored by the Stanley Foundation, the National Committee on North Korea, the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis, and the Chinese Arms Control and Disarmament Association.; report (152 KB)
Updating U.S. Deterrence Concepts and Operational Planning: Reassuring Allies, Deterring Legacy Threats, and Dissuading Nuclear "Wannabes": Jacquelyn K. Davis, Robert L. Pfaltzgraff, Charles M. Perry, and James L. Schoff; February 2009, 22 pp
Description: Among the potentially contentious issues requiring focused attention and innovative thinking by the Obama administration are those relating to the future of U.S. deterrence planning. Members of the administration are already on record as favoring a significant unilateral reduction in U.S. nuclear weapons. Some are calling for the ratification of a Comprehensive (Nuclear) Test Ban Treaty; others are questioning proposals to update the U.S. nuclear infrastructure and modernize the U.S. nuclear warhead inventory to make American deterrent forces better able to meet and counter legacy and emerging deterrence threats and challenges. This paper provides an assessment of the future of U.S. nuclear planning and offers new ideas about deterrence in the dramatically changed twenty-first-century security planning environment.; report (1.67 MB)
Nuclear Matters in North Korea: Building a Multilateral Response for Future Stability in Northeast Asia: James L. Schoff, Charles M. Perry, and Jacquelyn K. Davis; July 2008, 186 pp
Description: This 2008 monograph presents the findings of a three-year multilateral research project that explores ways to bridge differences among the parties and to develop a common approach to North Korean nuclearization. It explores the strengths and weaknesses of the six-party process and offers practical solutions to the numerous implementation challenges regarding nuclear dismantlement and verification, and coordinated economic assistance and investment.; available for purchase ($25) || project details
The Pandemic Influenza Challenge: Multilateral Perspectives on Preparedness, Response Planning, and Areas for Cooperation: January 2007, 64 pp
Description: This 2007 report, based in part on the results of a 2006 IFPA-led multilateral workshop held in Tokyo, Japan, reviews current international efforts to mitigate the potentially devastating effect of a pandemic influenza, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. It also examines the national and military planning efforts of the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea in addressing this emerging crisis, and it explores options for improved multilateral cooperation in disaster response planning.; workshop report (1.25 MB)
Building Multi-party Capacity for a WMD-free Korean Peninsula: August 2006, 49 pp
Description: Report of a workshop held on February 17, 2006,in Honolulu, Hawaii. Government officials and foreign-policy experts from the United States, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, and Australia gathered for a one-day workshop to discuss the six-party talks and to explore options for building regional capacity to implement a denuclearization agreement with North Korea, if and when one is concluded.; workshop report (1.50 MB) || project details
Political Fences & Bad Neighbors: North Korea Policy Making in Japan and Implications for the United States: James L. Schoff; January 2006, 40 pp
Description: Policy coordination with Japan regarding North Korea is always important for U.S. policy makers, given the persistent security challenges posed by the DPRK and the lack of progress on North Korean denuclearization. The situation is further complicated by the oftentimes conflicting interests of other key regional players (such as China and South Korea) regarding priorities and policy approaches vis-à-vis the North. This report explores how Japan's policy toward North Korea has evolved over time, and it describes how domestic politics and bureaucratic organization affect current Japanese policy making in this area. U.S.-Japan policy coordination toward North Korea is discussed, and the implications of all of these factors are examined with policy recommendations to strengthen alliance cooperation.; report (1.38 MB)
Building Multi-Party Capacity for a WMD-Free Korean Peninsula: Multilateral Workshop Summary & ProjectReport; June 2005, 50 pp; report (1.47 MB)
Security Policy Reforms in East Asia and a Trilateral Crisis Response Planning Opportunity: Second interim report, an IFPA Project Interim Paper; March 2005, 32 pp; report (1.68 MB)
Tools for Trilateralism: Improving U.S.-Japan-Korea Cooperation to Manage Complex Contingencies: James L. Schoff; January 2005, 122 pp
Description: One of the more successful innovations in the area of U.S.-Japan and U.S.-South Korea alliance management was the establishment of the Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group (TCOG) for developing common policies toward North Korea. The three countries can learn from the TCOG and use other diplomatic and military planning tools to improve the way that they prepare for and respond to complex contingencies, such as a large-scale natural disaster, a regional or global epidemic, or the adverse affects of a failing nation-state. This monograph evaluates these tools and identifies ways that they can be better integrated to strengthen the alliance relationships and to enhance regional capacity in the areas of crisis and consequence management. The book includes the first comprehensive study of the TCOG from the perspective of the three nations’ participants, as well as a detailed analysis of how they contributed to the unprecedented multilateral response to the 2004 South Asian tsunami disaster.; monograph (1.87 MB)
Trilateral Tools for Managing Complex Contingencies: U.S.-Japan-Korea Cooperation in Disaster Relief & Stabilization/Reconstruction Missions: January 2005, 5 pp; seminar report (33 KB)
The Evolution of TCOG as a Diplomatic Tool: First Interim Report: An IFPA Project Interim Paper; November 2004, 32 pp; report (1.72 MB)
Coordinating Regional Strategies for a WMD-Free Korea: A Multilateral Dialogue Report: Guillermo Pinczuk and James Schoff; May 2004, 32 pp; report (968 KB) || project details
Building Six-Party Capacity for a WMD-Free Korea: James L. Schoff, Charles M. Perry, and Jacquelyn K. Davis; January 2004, 112 pp; available for purchase ($25)
Alliance Diversification & the Future of the U.S.-Korean Security Relationship: Charles M. Perry, Jecquelyn K. Davis, James L. Schoff, and Toshi Yoshihara; January 2004, 224 pp; available for purchase ($25)
Crisis Management in Japan & the United States: Creating Opportunities for Cooperation amid Dramatic Change: Edited by James L. Schoff; January 2004, 156 pp; available for purchase ($25)
WMD Challenges on the Korean Peninsula and New Approaches: A Trilateral Dialogue Report: Summary report on a U.S.-ROK-Japan workshop; July 2003; report (1.24 MB) || project details

Peace Regime Building on the Korean Peninsula: November 22, 2008, Washington, D.C.
Description: A bilateral workshop to help develop an allied consensus with regard to peace regime development on the Korean Peninsula and for broader U.S.-ROK policy coordination vis-á-vis North Korea.; interim report (2.65 MB) || project details
In Times of Crisis: U.S.-Japan Civil-Military Coordination for Disaster Relief Missions: October 28, 2008, Tokyo, Japan
Description: Participants reviewed recent civil-military coordination in each country and at the United Nations, discussed the likely future course of these trends, evaluated efforts to date regarding the strengthening of allied cooperation, and discussed possible improvements.; workshop agenda || workshop participants || project details || monograph front matter and executive summary (3.59 MB) || full monograph available for purchase ($25)
The Six-Party Talks and Opportunities to Strengthen Regional Nonproliferation and Disarmament: October 23 – October 24, 2008, Beijing, China
Description: A multilateral dialogue looking beyond the immediate challenges associated with North Korean denuclearization to begin to chart a course for managing that country’s re-entry into the NPT in ways that strengthen regional and global nonproliferation and disarmament norms.; report (152 KB) || project details
WMD Proliferation and Critical North Korea Scenarios: September 20 – September 21, 2007, Chantilly, Virginia, in support of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Building Multi-party Capacity for a WMD-free Korean Peninsula: April 27, 2007, Beijing, China; workshop details || workshop agenda || workshop participants
In Times of Crisis: Global and Local Civil-Military Disaster Relief Coordination in the United States and Japan: December 12, 2006, Washington, D.C.; workshop details || project details || monograph front matter and executive summary (3.59 MB) || full monograph available for purchase ($25)
Pandemic Influenza Workshop: Multilateral Perspectives on Preparedness, Response Planning, and Areas for Cooperation: September 27, 2006, Tokyo, Japan, in support of U.S. Pacific Command
Description: Military officers, government representatives, and foreign policy experts from the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea gathered for a one-day workshop to discuss the potential threat of a pandemic influenza in the Asia-Pacific region. The event was co-sponsored by the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis, the Institute of World Studies at Takushoku University, and the United States Pacific Command (PACOM).; report (1.25 MB)
Building Multi-party Capacity for a WMD-free Korean Peninsula: February 17, 2006, Honolulu, Hawaii
Description: Government officials and foreign-policy experts from the United States, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, and Australia gathered for a one-day workshop to discuss the six-party talks and to explore options for building regional capacity to implement a denuclearization agreement with North Korea, if and when one is concluded.; project report & workshop summary (1.5 MB) || project details
Trilateral Tools for Managing Complex Contingencies: U.S.-Japan-Korea Cooperation in Disaster Relief & Stabilization/ Reconstruction Missions: November 2, 2005, Washington, D.C.; report
Building Multi-Party Capacity for a WMD-Free Korean Peninsula: March 16 – March 17, 2005, Shanghai, part of the Building Six-Party Capacity project; report (1.47 MB) || project details
Future of the Korean Peninsula and Japan - U.S. - Korea Security Cooperation: February 20, 2004, Honolulu, Hawaii, part of the Building Six-Party Capacity project
WMD Challenges on the Korean Peninsula and New Approaches: A U.S. - ROK - Japanese Dialogue: April 11, 2003, Seoul, South Korea, part of the Building Six-Party Capacity project; report (1.24 MB) || project details

Consensus Building and Peace Regime Building on the Korean Peninsula: Charles M. Perry and James L. Schoff; International Journal of Korean Unification Studies 19, no. 1 (June 30, 2010); article
Achieving Strategic and Economic Balance in the Japan-US-China Triangle: James L. Schoff and Jun Kurihara; Cambridge Gazette: Politico-Economic Commentaries, no. 4, March 29, 2010; article || project details
For Whom Japan's Last Dance Is Saved — China, the United States, or Chimerica?: Lecture by James L. Schoff; Canon Institute for Global Studies (CIGS), Tokyo, Japan, March 29, 2010; lecture || about the lecture || project details
The Road to Better US-North Korea Relations Starts in Seoul: James L. Schoff; PacNet, no. 8, February 22, 2010; article || project details
Broaching Peace Regime Concepts to Support North Korean Denuclearization: James L. Schoff; Produced as part of the Nautilus Institute study, Improving Regional Security and Denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula: U.S. Policy Interests and Options, 2009; paper || project details || about the Nautilus Institute study
U.S. Extended Deterrence Commitments in East Asia and U.S. Nuclear Posture: Speech by James L. Schoff; Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., June 3, 2009
U.S.-Japan Alliance and the Future of Extended Deterrence: Speech by James L. Schoff; Stanford University Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, May 11, 2009
Does the Nonproliferation Tail Wag the Deterrence Dog?: James L. Schoff; PacNet, no. 9, February 5, 2009; article (32 KB)
An Alliance in Need of Attention: Op-ed by Richard J. Samuels and James L. Schoff; International Herald Tribune, January 22, 2009; available online (32 KB)
U.S. National Defense Strategy & Security of Japan: U.S. Military Transformation and Beyond: Speech by James L. Schoff, October 29, 2008, Tokyo, Japan; speech (144 KB)
North Korea Goes Nuclear, Again: James L. Schoff; Far Eastern Economic Review, September 2008
Setting a "Good Example" in Beijing: James L. Schoff; Far Eastern Economic Review, August 2008
First Things First in the Six-Party Talks: Verify and Implement: Op-ed on North Korean denuclearization by James L. Schoff; PacNet #37, July 9, 2008; article (28 KB)
The Need for Trilateral Cooperation: By James L. Schoff; Far Eastern Economic Review, July 2008
Nuclear Matters in North Korea: U.S. Strategy and the Six-Party Talks: Speech by James L. Schoff; Indianapolis World Affairs Council, Indianapolis, Indiana, May 20, 2008.
Future Prospects for U.S.-Japan-ROK Coordination: Speech by James L. Schoff; Pacific Forum CSIS conference, Changing Notions of National Identity and Implications for U.S.-Japan-ROK Relations, in Honolulu, Hawaii, May 5, 2008.
Reform Locally, Act Globally? Crisis Management Trends in Korea: James L. Schoff and Choi Hyun-jin; KEI's Academic Paper Series, April 2008; article (208 KB)
Is the Party Over?: James L. Schoff; Far Eastern Economic Review, April 2008
Thinking Globally in Seoul: James L. Schoff; Far Eastern Economic Review, March 2008
A Return to 'Checkbook Diplomacy'?: James L. Schoff; Far Eastern Economic Review, February 2008
Hedging and the U.S.-Japan Alliance: Speech by James L. Schoff; U.S.-Japan Strategic Dialogue, hosted by MIT at the Endicott House, Dedham, Massachusetts, February 20, 2008.
How to Keep the Six-Party Talks from Failing: By James L. Schoff; Far Eastern Economic Review, January 2008
Enabling Disablement: Some Assembly Required: Op-ed by James L. Schoff; PacNet #40a, October 9, 2007; article (38 KB)
Mr. Fukuda's Abduction Problem: James L. Schoff; Far Eastern Economic Review, October 2007
Make the Working Groups Work: James L. Schoff; PacNet, no. 10, February 27, 2007; article (53 KB)
Transformation of the U.S.-Japan Alliance: James L. Schoff; The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 31, no. 1(Winter 2007); article (144 KB)
Abduction Diplomacy and the Six-Party Talks: James L. Schoff; Pacific Forum CSIS, April 25, 2006; article (28 KB)
Japan-North Korea Relations from an American Perspective: Speech by James L. Schoff; 16th Diplomatic Roundtable, December 14, 2005, sponsored by the Japan Forum on International Relations (JFIR) / the Global Forum of Japan / the Council on East Asian Community (in Tokyo); speech (53 KB)
The Current State of U.S.-Japan Strategic Dialogue: A Strategic Pause, or an Opportunity Slipping Away?: James L. Schoff; Sekai Shuho, October 25, 2005; article
The 108th Congress: Asia Pacific Policy Outlook: James L. Schoff; National Bureau of Asian Research Briefing Paper, no. 11, January 2003

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James L. Schoff