Regional / Grass Roots Programs

The end of the Cold War has freed the nations of the world to refocus their collective energies on growth, social advancement, and human progress. Removed from ideological competition, central governments have begun to consider ways to share power with local communities and citizens, while domestic issues have moved to the forefront of national agendas. At the same time, issues of international affairs, once driven exclusively by national policy makers and institutions, are being decided with the participation and consent of a broader spectrum of society.

In Japan as well as the United States, momentous events during the past year have laid bare the roots of underlying change. The Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 brought tragically into focus the challenge of sudden domestic crises to highly centralized governments, and fueled an unprecedented surge in volunteer activity by private citizens. In the US, midterm congressional elections swept in new leadership and revealed a grounds well of popular discontent toward a government that was widely perceived as out of touch.

As the national focus in many industrialized nations turns inward, major changes have been set in motion on fundamental domestic issues. Separately, the people of every nation must determine how best to sow the seeds of economic growth, address social inequalities, educate their children, and ensure the health, productivity, and happiness of the elderly and disabled. Yet, in the late twentieth century, we discover that the answers to these questions are often found outside our borders, as our economic security becomes increasingly dependent on global commerce, and as growing ethnic diversity and international interaction require us to embrace a new, multicultural model of society.

In the coming years, global trends will continue to shape local issues, as domestic policies echo in international events. As the citizens of the US and Japan shape the future of their countries, and that of the bilateral relationship, the need becomes increasingly clear for renewed efforts at communication and exchange. CGP's Regional and Grass Roots Programs seek to address this need by supporting broad interchange between the people of the two countries toward a better understanding of the relationship between world affairs and the domestic environment, and toward finding common ground and common solutions.