Kenneth R. Weinstein

Japan Chair

kenneth-weinstein

At A Glance:

Kenneth R. Weinstein is the Japan Chair at Hudson Institute.

Biography

Kenneth R. Weinstein is the Japan Chair at Hudson Institute.

Dr. Weinstein was Hudson’s inaugural Walter P. Stern Distinguished Fellow from 2019 until 2023. From 2011 through 2020, Weinstein served as president and CEO of Hudson. In December 2019, he became the inaugural holder of the Walter P. Stern Chair. He joined the institute in 1991, was appointed CEO in June 2005, and was named president and CEO in March 2011.

Under his leadership since 2005, Hudson grew significantly in size, prominence, visibility, and impact, recruiting top-flight talent and advising officials around the globe. The institute’s annual budget nearly tripled to $20 million in this time period, and its endowment grew fivefold to $60 million.

A political theorist by training whose academic work focused on the early Enlightenment, Dr. Weinstein has written widely for publications in the United States, Europe, and Asia, including the Wall Street Journal, Le Monde, and the Yomiuri Shimbun. In 2006, he was decorated with a knighthood in arts and letters by the government of France and serves on the boards of nonprofit organizations in the US and Europe.

Dr. Weinstein has served under the last four US administrations as a member of presidentially appointed commissions. From 2017 until 2020, Dr. Weinstein chaired the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the oversight body for US Agency for Global Media, and was chair of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Middle East Broadcasting, and the Open Technology Fund.

He is often interviewed by major broadcast and cable outlets around the world and speaks French and German. A frequent guest on French television and radio, he has served as in-studio commentator for live French-language coverage of US congressional and presidential elections for nearly twenty-five years.

He is the co-editor of The Essential Herman Kahn: In Defense of Thinking (Lexington Books, 2009).

Dr. Weinstein previously served on the Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations, which provides counsel on trade agreements to the United States Trade Representative. In March 2020, he was nominated by President Trump to serve as US ambassador to Japan. His nomination was reported unanimously out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in September 2020.

Dr. Weinstein earned his BA in general studies in the Humanities from the University of Chicago, DEA in Soviet and Eastern European studies from Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, and PhD in government from Harvard University.

Events
04
December 2024
Past Event
Alaska’s Strategic Importance for the Indo-Pacific
Featured Speakers:
Senator Dan Sullivan
Kenneth R. Weinstein
A landscape marked by the oil and gas industry, September 27, 2008, at Nikiski Beach and Cook Inlet in Kenai, Alaska. The region is considered the 'ground zero' for oil and gas in Alaska, one of the top two oil producing states in the country. Lower right is Agrium Nitrogen Operations and left of that is Conoco Phillips LNG (liquefied natural gas) Facility. (Photo by Farah Nosh/Getty Images)
04
December 2024
Past Event
Alaska’s Strategic Importance for the Indo-Pacific

Hudson’s Japan Chair will welcome Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) to give a keynote speech on Alaska’s strategic importance to the free and open Indo-Pacific. Following his address, the senator will sit down for a fireside chat with Hudson Japan Chair Kenneth R. Weinstein to discuss Alaska’s role in energy security, national security, and foreign direct investment as well as how the next administration should approach these issues.

A landscape marked by the oil and gas industry, September 27, 2008, at Nikiski Beach and Cook Inlet in Kenai, Alaska. The region is considered the 'ground zero' for oil and gas in Alaska, one of the top two oil producing states in the country. Lower right is Agrium Nitrogen Operations and left of that is Conoco Phillips LNG (liquefied natural gas) Facility. (Photo by Farah Nosh/Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Senator Dan Sullivan
Kenneth R. Weinstein
04
November 2024
Past Event
At the Edge of Empire: A Discussion with Edward Wong
Featured Speakers:
Edward Wong
Kenneth R. Weinstein
Nury Turkel
A photo of Kanas Mountain in Xinjiang Province, China. (Getty Images)
04
November 2024
Past Event
At the Edge of Empire: A Discussion with Edward Wong

Join Hudson for a discussion of the book with Wong, Japan Chair Kenneth Weinstein, and Senior Fellow Nury Turkel.

A photo of Kanas Mountain in Xinjiang Province, China. (Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Edward Wong
Kenneth R. Weinstein
Nury Turkel
26
September 2024
Past Event
Preserving a Free and Open Indo-Pacific: A Conversation with Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ)
Featured Speakers:
Kenneth R. Weinstein
Representative Andy Kim
US Representative Andy Kim speaking at the Capitol in Washington, DC. (Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images via Getty Images)
26
September 2024
Past Event
Preserving a Free and Open Indo-Pacific: A Conversation with Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ)

Representative Andy Kim (D-NJ) will join Hudson Japan Chair Kenneth Weinstein to discuss how the United States can build on multilateral economic and security initiatives among allies like Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific.

US Representative Andy Kim speaking at the Capitol in Washington, DC. (Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Kenneth R. Weinstein
Representative Andy Kim
09
September 2024
Past Event
Insights from Okinawa: Governor Denny Tamaki on Building a Sustainable US-Japan Relationship
Featured Speakers:
Kenneth R. Weinstein
Denny Tamaki
Okinawa Prefecture Governor Denny Tamaki is seen at the prime minister's official residence on March 19, 2019, in Tokyo, Japan. (The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)
09
September 2024
Past Event
Insights from Okinawa: Governor Denny Tamaki on Building a Sustainable US-Japan Relationship

Hudson’s Japan Chair will host Governor Denny Tamaki of Okinawa Prefecture for an address on rising regional tensions and the importance of putting bilateral defense on a more sustainable footing, with an emphasis on building trust among US Forces Japan, the Japanese government, and the Okinawan prefectural government. Following his address, the governor will sit down for a fireside chat with Hudson Japan Chair Kenneth R. Weinstein before responding to questions from the audience.

Okinawa Prefecture Governor Denny Tamaki is seen at the prime minister's official residence on March 19, 2019, in Tokyo, Japan. (The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Kenneth R. Weinstein
Denny Tamaki