Chalmers Ashby Johnson  (1931-) is an American author and professor emeritus of the University of California, San Diego. He served in the Korean war, was a consultant for the CIA from 1967-1973, and led the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of California, Berkeley for years. He is also president and co-founder of the Japan Policy Research Institute based at the University of San Francisco), an organization promoting public education about Japan and Asia. He has written numerous books including, most recently, three examinations of the consequences of American Empire: Blowback (2000), The Sorrows of Empire (2004), and Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic (2006).