Michael H. Armacost
Distinguished Visiting Fellow

Expertise: Contemporary issues in U.S. relations with Northeast Asia; the impact of domestic developments in foreign policy decision-making

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Michael H. Armacost, former ambassador to Japan and the Philippines, is a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is also the Shorenstein Distingished Fellow at the Asia-Pacific Research Center.

From 1995 to 2002, Armacost served as president of the Brookings Institution, the nation's oldest think tank and a leader in research on politics, government, international affairs, economics, and public policy.

Armacost began his career in academia, as a professor of government at Pomona College. In 1969, he was awarded a White House Fellowship, assigned to the secretary and deputy secretary of state. Following a stint on the State Department's policy planning and coordination staff, he became a special assistant to the U.S. ambassador in Tokyo from 1972 to 1974, his first foreign diplomatic post. Thereafter, he held senior Asian affairs and international security posts in the State Department, Defense Department, and the National Security Council. From 1982 to 1984, he served as U.S. ambassador to the Philippines and was a key force in helping the country undergo a nonviolent transition to democracy. In 1989, President George Bush tapped him to become ambassador to Japan, one of the most important and sensitive U.S. diplomatic posts abroad.

Armacost is the author of three books, the most recent of which, Friends or Rivals? was published in 1996 and draws on his tenure as ambassador. He also serves on numerous corporate and nonprofit boards, including those of AFLAC, Applied Materials, Cargill, Carleton College, the Asia Foundation, and USEC, Inc.

He has received the President's Distinguished Service Award, the Defense Department's Distinguished Civilian Service Award, and the Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award.

A native of Ohio, Armacost graduated from Carleton College and earned his master's and doctorate in public law and government from Columbia University.