James L. Schoff is a senior associate in the Carnegie Asia Program. His research focuses on U.S.-Japanese relations and regional engagement, Japanese politics and security, and the private’s sector role in Japanese policymaking. He previously served as senior adviser for East Asia policy at the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense and as director of Asia Pacific Studies at the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis (IFPA).
At the Department of Defense, Schoff was responsible for strategic planning and policy development for relations with Japan and the Republic of Korea. He also spearheaded trilateral initiatives and regional security cooperation issues, including missile defense, disaster relief, and maritime security. He was awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service.
From 2003 to 2010, Schoff directed Asia Pacific Studies at IFPA in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he specialized in East Asian security issues, U.S. alliance relations in the region, and nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, focused on North Korea. Prior to joining IFPA, he served as program officer in charge of policy studies at the United States-Japan Foundation in New York.
Schoff has written extensively on East Asian security and foreign policy issues. His publications include: In Times of Crisis: U.S.-Japan Civil-Military Disaster Relief Coordination (co-author, Potomac Books Inc., 2009), “Realigning Priorities: The U.S.-Japan Alliance & the Future of Extended Deterrence” (IFPA, 2009), and Tools for Trilateralism: Improving U.S.-Japan-Korea Cooperation to Manage Complex Contingencies (Potomac Books Inc., 2005).
