Re-examining the Importance of the U.S.-Japan Relationship in an Era of Change
The Mansfield Foundation’s newest book 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. Ambassador Rust Deming, adjunct professor for the Japan Studies Program at Johns Hopkins University and now head of the Office of Japan Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, led both days of the program, which included a closed-door working session at the Foundation’s Washington, D.C., office February 28, 2011 and a public event on Capitol Hill March 1. During the two-day event, the nine East Asia specialists and Ambassador Rust Deming discussed regional security issues, the aftermath of the global financial crisis, and new factors affecting climate change and energy policies in the U.S. and Japan. This publication presents on overview of those discussions as well as follow-up discussions in which participants were asked to assess the implications of the Great East Japan Earthquake for the relationship. In addition to Ambassador Deming, program participants included:
- Kiyoaki Aburaki, Keidanren (Japan Business Federation)
- Kuniko Ashizawa, Oxford Brooks University
- Toshi Arimura, Sophia University
- L. William Heinrich, U.S. Department of State and Mansfield Fellow 2005-2007
- Llewelyn Hughes, George Washington University and U.S.-Japan Network for the Future Fellow
- Keith A. Krulak, U.S. Department of State and Mansfield Fellow 2001-2003
- Jennifer Sklarew, George Mason University and Mansfield Fellow 2003-2005
- Mireya Solis, American University and U.S.-Japan Network for the Future Fellow
- Nicholas Szechenyi, Center for Strategic and International Studies and U.S.-Japan Network for the Future Fellow