Speaker biographies

Michael Auslin, AEI's director of Japan studies, specializes in U.S.-East Asian relations, Asian maritime security, and Japanese foreign and security policy. Before joining AEI, Mr. Auslin was an associate professor of history and a senior research fellow at the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University. He has been named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, a Marshall Memorial Fellow by the German Marshall Fund, and a Fulbright and Japan Foundation scholar. His writings on Japan and Japanese diplomacy include the books Negotiating with Imperialism: The Unequal Treaties and the Culture of Japanese Diplomacy (Harvard University Press, 2006) and Japan Society: Celebrating a Century, 1907-2007 (Japan Society Gallery, 2007), and the report Securing Freedom: The U.S.-Japanese Alliance in a New Era.

J. D. Crouch II is the president of the Technology Solutions Group of QinetiQ North America, a company that focuses on mission-critical technology, security services, intelligence, counterintelligence, and systems-engineering solutions for the federal government. Before his appointment to that position in November 2009, he was the executive vice president for strategic development at QinetiQ North America. He currently serves on several government advisory boards. Until July 2007, Mr. Crouch was assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser. During that time, he was a senior adviser to the president on national security matters, chair of the subcabinet Deputies Committee, and second-in-command at the National Security Council. Earlier in his career, Mr. Crouch was U.S. ambassador to Romania, assistant secretary of defense for international security policy, principal adviser to the secretary of defense on various policy issues, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for international security policy under President George H.W. Bush, special assistant to the assistant director for strategic programs in the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency under President Ronald Reagan, and adviser to the U.S. delegation on nuclear and space arms talks with the former Soviet Union. Outside of government, Mr. Crouch was associate professor of defense and strategic studies at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri, and cofounded PalmGear.com, the Internet's leading source of Palm OS software. He has twice been awarded the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal. Mr. Crouch received the Alumni Merit Award from the University of Southern California in 2006 and the Military Merit Grand Cross with White Ribbon from the Kingdom of Spain in 2003. 

Admiral Timothy J. Keating retired in December 2009 after serving three years as the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii. While in command, Admiral Keating visited over thirty countries, meeting diplomats, military officials, and commercial leaders to emphasize active engagement with national and international partners in preserving the security and stability upon which the Asia-Pacific region's success depends. Before his tour at Pacific Command, Admiral Keating was commander of the U.S. Northern Command, responsible for protecting the U.S. homeland and supporting federal, state, and local officials in times of crisis. During that time, he was also commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command. His previous tours include service as the director of the Joint Staff in the Pentagon, command of the U.S. Fifth Fleet and all naval forces in the U.S. Central Command headquartered in Bahrain, deputy chief of naval operations (plans, policy, and operations) in the Pentagon, command of the USS Kitty Hawk Battle Group stationed in Yokosuka, Japan, and deputy director for operations (current operations) on the Joint Staff in the Pentagon. Admiral Keating has accumulated over five thousand hours of flight time in tactical jets and has landed on Navy aircraft carriers over 1,200 times. In addition to numerous awards from the United States, he has received military decorations from Great Britain, Bahrain, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Singapore. He is a proud honorary Master Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy. Admiral Keating is also an international consultant for several organizations, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a board member of various corporate and nonprofit entities.

Jim Thomas is vice president for studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA). He oversees CSBA's research programs and directs the Strategic and Budgetary Studies staff. Before joining CSBA, he was vice president of Applied Minds Inc., a private research and development company specializing in rapid, interdisciplinary technology prototyping. Mr. Thomas also served for thirteen years in a variety of policy, planning, and resource-analysis positions in the Department of Defense, culminating in his dual appointment as deputy assistant secretary of defense for resources and plans and acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy. In these capacities, he was responsible for the development of the National Defense Strategy, conventional-force planning, resource assessment, and the oversight of war plans. He spearheaded the 2005-2006 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) and was the principal author of the QDR Report. Mr. Thomas received the Department of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service in 1997 for his work at NATO, and the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service (the department's highest civilian award) in 2006 for his strategy work. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Institute for Strategic Studies. A former Navy Reserve officer, Mr. Thomas attained the rank of lieutenant commander.

Thomas Donnelly, a defense and security policy analyst, is the director of the Center for Defense Studies at AEI. He is the coauthor of Lessons for a Long War: How America Can Win on New Battlefields (AEI Press, 2010, with Frederick W. Kagan). Among his recent books are Ground Truth: The Future of U.S. Land Power (AEI Press, 2008, with Frederick W. Kagan); Of Men and Materiel: The Crisis in Military Resources (AEI Press, 2007, coedited with Gary J. Schmitt); The Military We Need (AEI Press, 2005); and Operation Iraqi Freedom: A Strategic Assessment (AEI Press, 2004). Mr. Donnelly was policy-group director and a professional staff member for the House Committee on Armed Services from 1995 to 1999, and he also served as a member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He is a former editor of Armed Forces Journal, Army Times, and Defense News.