Intellectual Exchange

As we near the end of the century, the daunting complexity of the multipolar world challenges our ability to interpret and manage change; to chart the course for individual nations and multilateral organizations, or to anticipate the potential for friction among regions of vastly different traditions. A multitude of viewpoints can frustrate informed policy. At the same time ,great resources of talent and intellect can be found in scholarly communities throughout the world, and individual and institutions that are ready to make a profound contribution to improving international communication. In forging a new global partnership, it is essential that we integrate these new voices and alternative perspectives into contemporary international dialogue.

With this in mind, CGP's Intellectual Exchange programs seek to harness the collective insight and determination of the world's scholarly communities, building multilateral initiatives around a core of collaboration between the US and Japan, and in turn with other countries. They support joint efforts by researchers, policy makers, and professionals on issues of bilateral, regional, and global concern, and seek common solutions through joint problemsolving. Through the synthesis of diverse viewpoints, they also help to build interdisciplinary networks of talented individuals able to contribute to the long-range study of the many complex issues of our rapidly integrating world.

During JFY1994, the US-Japan relationship provided a fitting paradigm for the world community. Economically interdependent, strategically allied, and historically interwoven, the two nations separately faced sweeping political changes, natural disasters, and acts of random violence that mirrored the uncertainty of our times. In the place of their postwar alliance against communism, collaboration on global issues grew in importance as a potential touchstone of the new bilateral relationship. The two countries' shared interests in free trade, democratization, and the prevention of arms proliferation made for a solid foundation to this partnership. However, as the two countries refocused on domestic recessions, the unusually strident and combative tone of their recent trade negotiations threatened to overshadow this alliance.

Similarly, the international community faces the opportunity for cooperation on an unprecedented scale. Track II dialogues and a growing network of nongovernmental organizations have opened new channels for communication and unofficial forums for dispute resolution. Multilateral organizations, endowed with wide consensus on the need for joint efforts toward protecting the environment, managing the global economy, maintaining security, and addressing population issues, still resonate with the promise of their post-WWII origins. But their potential as an instrument of collective achievement is threatened by organizational shortcomings and inadequate investment by their membership. In recent years, we have seen the international profiles of the United Nations, NATO, the International Monetary Fund, and other organizations eroded by the persistence of ethnic conflict, currency crises, deepening environmental imbalance, and lack of common vision.

As collective undertakings, however, we must remember that these institutions are a mirror of ourselves, and a measure of our commitment. CGP recognizes that collaboration on a grand scale begins with small steps, and it is through the support of bilateral and multilateral initiatives that CGP hopes to support the growth of a nongovernmental arena for exchange among researchers and scholars, open to the candid contributions of policy makers and opinion leaders.

Projects realized during the first four years of CGP funding have brought the benefits of intellectual synergy clearly into view: the alliance of diverse talents and expertise from different parts of the world; the birth of new ideas and deepened perceptions; and far-reaching international impact for the conclusions reached. We have also seen the process of collaboration itself bring us closer to a future in which international communication and exchange are commonplace.

We acknowledge that the rewards of meaningful, effective collaboration are balanced by its sometimes elusive nature. Despite CGP's best efforts to improve and systematize its approach to encouraging dynamic partnerships among organizations internationally, there are still obstacles to the success of research and dialogue projects. One of the major priorities of the Intellectual Exchange programs in the coming years will be for CGP to be proactive in identifying, analyzing, and where possible, addressing potential impediments to collaboration.

As relationships between counterpart institutions and individuals worldwide have taken root, the participants themselves have become a valuable resource for future interchange. In the interest of promoting the rewards of collaboration, and sharing the lessons learned, we have included in this Annual Report the reflections of some of the JFY 1994 grantees who, through their efforts, contributed to the growth of international cooperation.