U.S. and Japan: Allies in Security, Partners in Economic Prosperity
The Tennessee World Affairs Council, in partnership with the University of Tennessee Knoxville, is hosting a panel discussion about Japan and its close relationship with the US. Panelists from Kobe University in Japan and the Hudson Institute in Washington, DC will discuss the longstanding alliance between the US and Japan, geopolitical and security challenges in the region faced by both countries, and the strong economic relationship between these two great powers due to trade and Japanese investment in the US, especially in Tennessee.
Wednesday, November 12, 2025 I 11:00am-1:00pm
* Luncheon Event *
Venue:
21 Platform Way South – 23rd Floor
Nashville, TN 37203
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Moderator: Dr. Gretchen Neisler (Vice Provost for International Affairs, University of Tennessee)
Gretchen Neisler is the senior international officer at the University of Tennessee. She began work at UT in August 2018. She came to the university from Michigan State University, where she served as the director of the Center for Global Connections in Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources in the College of Agricultural and Natural Sciences. She has an international portfolio that includes work across the Middle East, East Africa, West Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Her responsibilities include:
Working closely with the university community to lead the development of the university’s strategic international agenda; Representing the university to external constituents, both nationally and internationally; and overseeing the Center for Global Engagement, which encompasses the offices of Asia Engagement, Programs Abroad, International Support Services, International House, English Language Institute, Global Research, and Communications.
Neisler obtained her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration, a Master of Science in Agricultural Extension Education, and a B.S. in Agriscience Education and Animal Science from Michigan State University.
Panelist: Dr. William Chou (Senior Fellow & Deputy Director, Japan Chair, Hudson Institute)
William Chou is a senior fellow and deputy director of Hudson Institute’s Japan Chair. His work at Hudson focuses on US-Japan/Indo-Pacific relations, with an emphasis on economic security, trade and investment, and regional partnerships. Recent projects include the Nippon Steel-US Steel partnership, critical mineral supply chains, trilateral US-Japan-EU economic security cooperation, and US-Japan energy partnerships with Southeast Asia.
Dr. Chou writes and speaks regularly on policy issues, with his writing and analysis appearing in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Politico, The Washington Post, Nikkei, The New York Times, and the Financial Times.
He holds a BA in history from Yale and a PhD in history from The Ohio State University, with a dissertation on Cold War US-Japan commercial and diplomatic relations. He is a former fellow at the Smithsonian, the Clements Center at UT-Austin, and the University of Tokyo. He got his start as a research analyst at the Institute for Defense Analyses during the Iraq War.
A native New Yorker, Dr. Chou is a former Jeopardy! champion.
Panelist: Dr. Tosh Minohara (Professor of International Relations & Security Studies, Kobe University)
Dr. Tosh Minohara is Professor of Ko, where he holds a joint appointment with the Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies. He received his B.A. in International Relations from the University of California, Davis, and his Ph.D. in Political and Diplomatic History from Kobe University. He is the founder and chairman of the Research Institute of Indo-Pacific Affairs (RIIPA), a nonprofit organization certified by the Cabinet Office. He is also a senior advisor to KREAB Japan and the National Security Group of the Global Tekijuku, as well as a member of the Kansai Association of Corporate Executives (Kansai Keizai Doyukai). In addition, he was formerly an external advisor to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), lecturer at both the Japan Maritime and Air Self-Defense Force (JMSDF/JASDF) Command and Staff Colleges, and has served three tours (2011, 2022, 2023) on the JMDF training squadron as an academic observer/lecturer. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including the most recent, The Handbook of Japan’s Foreign and Domestic Policies During the Decade of Abe (Amsterdam University Press, 2025). His academic achievements have been recognized as a recipient of both the Shimizu Hiroshi Prize (2002) and the Japan Academic Research Award (2019).
