"Pacific Defense" (1996) was the first publication by an American to receive the Mainichi Grand Prix in Asia-Pacific Studies (1997) for its analysis of how economic change is transforming the U.S.-East Asia security equation.
[citation needed] Calder served from 1997 to 2001 as special advisor to the U.S. ambassador to Japan, working under Walter Mondale, Thomas Foley, and briefly Howard Baker.
Calder joined Johns Hopkins SAIS in 2003,[4] serving as director of the Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies (2003–present); Asia Programs (2016-2018); and as Vice Dean (2018-2020).
From 1990 to 2003, after receiving tenure at Princeton, Calder directed the university's Program on U.S.-Japan Relations in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
In 2014, Calder was also awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, by the Japanese government for his contribution to the development of Japan studies in the United States and the enhancement of trans-Pacific understanding.