Japan Moves Forward:Views from the U.S.-Japan Network for the Future

The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation and the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership are pleased to announce the publication of “Japan Moves Forward: Views from the U.S.-Japan Network for the Future,” now available online.  This publication compiles policy papers from each of the fifteen participants in the inaugural group of the U.S.-Japan Network for the Future.

Re-Examining the U.S.-Japan Relationship in an Era of Change

This publication summarizes discussions held as part of a two-day program to reassess the U.S.-Japan relationship in light of domestic political changes, regional tensions and other developments.  Program participants included members of two Mansfield Foundation programs – the Mike Mansfield Fellowships and the U.S.-Japan Network for the Future – as well as Japanese discussants from academic institutions, government agencies and think tanks in the U.S. and Japan.

One Step Back? Reassessing an Ideal Security State for Asia 2025

This book is the product of the second year of an ongoing research partnership between the Foundation and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) through Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC).  The aim of this research partnership is to identify and refine the “ideal” state of peace and security in Northeast Asia in 2025. The first year of the project focused on defining the characteristics of an ideal security state in Northeast Asia in the year 2025.  The second year of the project provided an opportunity to evaluate the ideal in the context of developments in the region since 2009.

Toward an Ideal Security State for Northeast Asia 2025

This 2010 book is the product of a research partnership designed to identify the “ideal” state of peace and security in Northeast Asia in 2025 and to further explore issues related to that ideal.  The Mansfield Foundation partnered with the Advanced Systems and Concepts Office of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) on this project, which brought experts from Asia and the Pacific together for two 2009 workshops to identify an ideal security situation for Northeast Asia in the year 2025 as well as current and likely future trends diverging from that ideal.

Change in Human Flows between the United States and Japan: Report and Policy Implications 

Mansfield Visiting Fellow Mizuki Yamanaka examines the trends behind past U.S.-Japan exchanges and how they compare to exchanges with other East Asian countries.  His report also raises important questions about future exchanges with Japan.  Although Japan is still the largest source of visitors to the United States among East Asian countries, the number of visitors has been declining.  Mr. Yamanaka suggests that U.S.-Japan exchanges need to advance to the next stage and proposes policy visions intended to improve future bilateral exchanges.  Published March 2010.

Understanding New Political Realities in Seoul:Working toward a Common Approach to Strengthen U.S.-Korean Relations

The new administration of President Lee Myung-bak takes over the reins in Seoul in a climate in which there appears to have been some reevaluation of the U.S.-ROK relationship by the South Korea body politic.  Perhaps due to the North Korea nuclear test, the controversy surrounding China’s historical claims on the ancient kingdom of Kokuryo, and the stark relief in which the alliance was placed by the negotiations on the transfer of wartime operational control, a sizable majority of South Korean voters clearly indicated their preference for an improvement in U.S.-Korean relations in Korea’s December 2007 elections.  As this is the political base to which President Lee Myung-bak will be beholden, the current transition in Seoul likely represents a new political reality.

From the Far East to the Old West: Chinese and Japanese Settlers in Montana

The Mansfield Foundation has produced an Emmy-nominated historical documentary about the thousands of Chinese and Japanese who came to Montana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In addition to describing why they left their homeland and what drew them to Montana, the video features diaries, original photographs, newspapers of the day and contemporary interviews with historians and descendants to show what these Asian immigrants did in Montana, the hardships they faced, and the contributions they made to the American West.