About
Mireya Solís
Expert

Mireya Solís

Director – Center for Asia Policy Studies, Senior Fellow – Foreign Policy, Center for Asia Policy Studies, Philip Knight Chair in Japan Studies

Mireya Solís is director of the Center for Asia Policy Studies, Philip Knight Chair in Japan Studies, and a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings. Prior to her arrival at Brookings, Solís was a tenured associate professor at American University’s School of International Service.

Solís is an expert on Japanese foreign economic policy, international trade policy, and U.S. economic statecraft in Asia. She is the author of “Dilemmas of a Trading Nation: Japan and the United States in the Evolving Asia-Pacific Order” (Brookings, Press, 2017), recipient of the 2018 Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Award. She also authored “Banking on Multinationals: Public Credit and the Export of Japanese Sunset Industries” (Stanford University Press, 2004) and co-edited “Cross-Regional Trade Agreements: Understanding Permeated Regionalism in East Asia” (Springer, 2008) and “Competitive Regionalism: FTA Diffusion in the Pacific Rim” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).

Her most recent book, “Japan’s Quiet Leadership: Reshaping the Indo-Pacific” (Brookings Press, September 2023)—now available in Japanese— addresses the question of why and how Japan has emerged from the “lost decades” unscathed from the populist wave and a far more consequential actor in the geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific and was named one of “The Best of Books 2024” by Foreign Affairs. The book provides a sweeping look at Japan’s domestic economic and political evolution, its economic statecraft, and the array of geopolitical challenges that have triggered a gradual but substantial shift in the country’s security profile. This deep dive into Japan’s trajectory over the last three decades underscores Japan’s hidden strengths in its democratic resilience, social stability, and proactive diplomacy; while reckoning with the profound challenges the nation faces: depopulation, rising inequality, voter disengagement, and threats to Asia’s long peace.

Solís has offered expert commentary to The New York Times, Financial Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Politico, The New Yorker, Nikkei, Kyodo News, Asahi Shimbun, Jiji Press, Japan Times, NHK World, Bloomberg, CNN, and BBC, among others. Solís earned a doctorate in government and a master’s in East Asian studies from Harvard University, and a bachelor’s in international relations from El Colegio de México.

Affiliations:

  • Japan America Society of Washington, D.C., member, board of trustees
  • Japan-American Student Conference, member, national advisory committee
  • México y la Cuenca del Pacífico, member, international editorial board
  • Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, Mexico Chapter, member
  • U.S.-Japan Network for the Future, member, advisory committee
  • Past Positions

    • Associate Professor, American University School of International Service
    • Assistant Professor, Department of Politics, Brandeis University
    • Visiting Professor, Center for International Relations, El Colegio de México
  • Education

    • Ph.D. (1998), M.A. (1991), Harvard University
    • B.A., El Colegio de México, 1989
Japan’s Quiet Leadership
Japan's Quiet Leadership Learn more

In her judicious survey of Japan’s economics and politics over the last three decades, Solís argues that the country has left stagnation behind to emerge as a regional “network power par excellence.” - Foreign Affairs

Named one of "The Best of Books 2024" by Foreign Affairs


Mentions and Appearances

Financial Times December 3, 2024

[Opposition to the Nippon Steel acquisition of US Steel has taken some companies] has taken some companies and others in Japan aback. From the get-go, the question has been: is this a..."

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Bloomberg October 28, 2024

You may have talks about Japan’s contributions to defense with a coalition government or a minority government that does not have the clout to do this. Those kinds of negotiations may..."

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The Washington Post September 27, 2024

Clean politics is a big theme, and also whether the party can put forward a convincing economic platform. I don’t believe the Japanese public feels that their standards of living are..."

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New York Times September 25, 2024

[Gender equality in Japan] is why [the election] is really touching a nerve… [Not requiring to share a family name is] an issue that symbolizes an appetite for change.

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New York Times April 7, 2024

The U.S. is obviously running thin in resources and diplomatic capital. There is a desire to make sure that the alliance is fit for purpose [if there is a conflict in Asia].

Japan Times Online March 21, 2023

The disparate responses from developing countries to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine have motivated Japan to extend its connectivity strategy in order to promote its vision of a..."

New York Times March 17, 2023

[Suggesting that trilateral meetings between China, South Korea, and Japan be revived] is a way to say this is not zero sum and this is not an anti-China development. It’s smart..."

The Economist March 7, 2023

Just as the mettle of the TPP project has been tested by the United States, now it will be tested by China.

TIME July 8, 2022

Even though Abenomics did not achieve all of its goals, […] it was an important step forward. There was progress.

TIME July 8, 2022

Not all of [Abe Shinzo’s] initiatives were novel ideas […] But he was the one that was able to see them through, largely because of the political stability that he brought.

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