A nation must think before it acts.
Dr. William Brooks has been an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University since 2009, after retiring from the U.S. Department of State. For 15 years, he served as head of the U.S. Embassy in Japan’s media analysis and translation unit, responsible for analyzing the impact of Japanese media trends on U.S. interests. He had two earlier postings to Embassy Tokyo’s economic section and also served at the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research. He has a doctorate from Columbia University and taught history at the university level before entering government service. Since retiring, he has written two monographs — The politics of the Futenma base issue in Okinawa: Relocation negotiations in 1995-97, 2005-2006 (SAIS, 2010), and Cracks in the Alliance (SAIS, 2011) – and is writing a book on Japanese politics. He also has translated three books of poetry and two philosophical works. In 2012, he taught at Kyung-Hee University in South Korea during the summer session, and this summer, he was a visiting scholar at Waseda University in Japan.