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Introduction
This report covers major insights from a one-day workshop on “U.S. Objectives in Science and Technology Relations with Japan” organized by the Committee on Japan (COJ) of the National Research Council (NRC) and held on March 15, 1996. The workshop is part of a series of meetings to identify U.S. national interests and policy approaches to resolving contentious issues emerging as a result of deeper U.S.-Japan competition and collaboration in science and technology. The activity is supported by a grant from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
The Committee on Japan hopes that the meeting and this report will be useful in several contexts. First, the workshop was held in advance of the May 1996 meeting of the Joint High Level Committee (JHLC) under the U.S.-Japan Agreement on Cooperation in Research and Development in Science and Technology (U.S.-Japan S&T Agreement). This could be the final JHLC meeting at which significant issues could be raised prior to the agreement coming up for renewal in 1998. The report might also be of use to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, which is undertaking a review of the U.S.-Japan science and technology relationship.
Second, the U.S. membership of the Joint High Level Advisory Panel (JHLAP), which was restructured in 1994, has had several meetings with its Japanese counterpart, the most recent in October 1995. The NRC workshop provided an opportunity to discuss the evolving role of JHLAP in providing input to the U.S. and Japanese governments.
Third, COJ is completing its overview study of U.S.-Japan science and technology relations, supported by several U.S. government agencies, and workshop discussions were expected to provide useful input.
COJ believes that this is a particularly important time to consider long term U.S. objectives in science and technology relations with Japan, and alternative strategies for achieving them. The environment surrounding the U.S.-Japan science and technology relationship has clearly undergone significant changes in the past few years. U.S. domestic policies and funding prospects for science and engineering are also in flux, raising the need to reexamine a range of U.S. international relationships and explore options for the future.
The workshop was chaired by COJ Vice Chairman Richard Samuels, Ford International Professor and Head of the Political Science Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Appendix A contains the agenda and roster of participants. The National Research Council's Office of Japan Affairs worked with the chairman to focus the discussions at the workshop and to prepare this report. Workshop participants and members of COJ reviewed the report and provided many useful suggestions, but the report is neither a consensus document nor conference proceedings.