M.A. in Japanese studies and international economics, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University; B.A. in history, The College of Wooster
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More ExpertsRachel M. Swanger is associate dean of student life and operations at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Prior to this, she served as Pardee RAND's assistant dean (2004–2007), manager of foundation and independent research within the RAND National Security Research Division (2001–2007), and acting director of the RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy (1997–2001).
Her areas of expertise are Japanese politics, the media, and foreign and defense policy. She is co-author of the RAND study The United States, Japan and Free Trade: Moving in the Same Direction? She has also done work on U.S. alliances in Asia and on the role energy plays in Japan’s foreign policy. She contributed chapters on Japan in America’s Role in Nation-Building: From Germany to Iraq, and Securing Health: Lessons from Nation-Building Operations. In 2001 she co-authored a RAND study on the political dimension of Japan’s decisionmaking on a ballistic missile defense system.
Prior to joining RAND, Swanger worked as a features and political reporter for the Sankei Shimbun in Tokyo, where she had the distinction of being the first non-Japanese ever admitted to the Prime Minister's Press Club. She has written numerous articles on Japanese politics, political culture, and foreign policy for such publications as the Sankei Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, Asahi Evening News, Tokyo Journal, Bungei Shunju, and Japan Update.
Swanger received her B.A. in history from The College of Wooster and her M.A. in Japanese studies and international economics from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University.
Silvia Montoya and Rachel Swanger, "Ideas for Policymakers: Enhancing the Impact of Think Tanks," Policy Insight, 1(2)
Jones, Seth G., Lee H. Hilborne, C. Ross Anthony, Lois M. Davis, Federico Girosi, Cheryl Benard, Rachel M. Swanger, Anita Datar Garten, and Anga R. Timilsina, Securing Health: Lessons from Nation-Building Missions, RAND Corporation (MG-321), 2006
Peters, John E., James Dickens, Derek Eaton, C. Christine Fair, Nina Hachigian, Theodore W. Karasik, Rollie Lal, Rachel M. Swanger, Gregory F. Treverton, and Charles Wolf, Jr., War and Escalation in South Asia, RAND Corporation (MG-367-1), 2006
Dobbins, James, John G. McGinn, Keith Crane, Seth G. Jones, Rollie Lal, Andrew Rathmell, Rachel M. Swanger, and Anga R. Timilsina, America's Role in Nation-Building: From Germany to Iraq, RAND Corporation (MR-1753), 2003
Swaine, Michael D., Rachel M. Swanger, and Takashi Kawakami, Japan and Ballistic Missile Defense, RAND Corporation (MR-1374), 2001
Lowell, Julia F., Shujiro Urata, Megumi Naoi, and Rachel M. Swanger, The United States, Japan, and Free Trade: Moving in the Same Direction?RAND Corporation (OP-363), 2012
