Episode 753: The Case for Pacific Optimism, with Blake Herzinger

About this episode

Blake Herzinger discusses the implications of Japan's increased defense spending and regional security cooperation in the Pacific.

Having trouble keeping up with the world around you? Head swirling with too much? You’re not alone. Good news…we’ll get you all caught up and set right. Returning to the Midrats Podcast is Blake Herzinger. Blake Herzinger is Microsoft’s Defense and National Security Policy Lead for Asia. Previously, he led policy strategy and advocacy at Citi across North and South Asia and Australia, advised senior leaders on geopolitical and regulatory trends at Indo-Pacific Advisors, and held roles at Twitter and Booz Allen Hamilton focused on defense policy, risk, and market strategy. He has been affiliated with think tanks including the American Enterprise Institute and the US Studies Centre in Sydney. From 2008 to 2017, Blake served as an active-duty officer in the U.S. Navy as an intelligence officer; he continues to serve in the U.S. Navy Reserve. He holds an M.A. in Strategic Studies from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) and a B.A. in Political Science from Brigham Young University. He speaks English and Bulgarian. In this episode: The significance of Japan increasing its defense expenditure to 2% of GDP and regional…

People in this episode

Host: Midrats

Guest: Blake Herzinger

Topics covered

• Pacific security
• defense expenditure
• Japan's soft power
• regional cooperation
• maritime security
• geopolitical trends

Keywords

• Pacific Optimism
• defense policy
• Japan
• Australia
• South Korea
• maritime choke points
• digital revolution
• security cooperation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Microsoft, Citi, Indo-Pacific Advisors, Twitter, Booz Allen Hamilton, American Enterprise Institute, US Studies Centre

Places: Japan, Australia, South Korea, Asia, Singapore, Brigham Young University

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