Partnership with the German Marshall Fund of the United States

Active Years: 2008

The Tokyo Foundation initiated a partnership with the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), a nonpartisan American public policy and grant-making institution dedicated to promoting greater cooperation and understanding between North America and Europe. Founded in 1972 through a gift from Germany as a permanent memorial to Marshall Plan assistance, GMF maintains a strong presence on both sides of the Atlantic. In addition to its headquarters in Washington, D.C., GMF has seven offices in Europe: Berlin, Bratislava, Paris, Brussels, Belgrade, Ankara, and Bucharest. GMF's activities have great influence across the two sides of the Atlantic and the rest of the world.

The Foundation's partnership with GMF is based upon the notion that transatlantic issues are no longer the sole ownership of the transatlantic community; these issues are interrelated to views, situations, and actions of other regions and countries because international relations are becoming more multifaceted and complex than before. Japan is no exception; rather, Japanese perspectives on transatlantic issues and/or implications of transatlantic issues to Japanese society are of great importance. However, the small volume of policy research and academic activities on these issues conducted by our predecessors is not commensurate with these needs.

Therefore, the Tokyo Foundation intends to introduce Japanese as well as Asian perspectives on transatlantic issues through the partnership with GMF. This shall be realized through a number of potential activities including exchanges of research fellows, joint-policy research, policy proposals, and organization of forums. We intend to cultivate, highlight, and disseminate the scope of Japanese and Asian points of views on these issues over the transatlantic community and other regions. These engagements are untapped yet bear great relevance to the global community.

With this in mind, the Foundation and GMF decided to sponsor Michito Tsuruoka to engage in research and related academic activities as Resident Fellow, GMF-Tokyo Foundation Fellowship, based in GMF's Brussels Office for two months from early February to late March 2009. Tsuruoka also plans to visit GMF headquarters in Washington D.C. He proposes to work on the theme, Connecting the Transatlantic Community with Japan/Asia: Why it matters and what possibilities, under this fellowship. We expect that his work will be a catalyst for future studies on transatlantic issues vis-à-vis Japan/Asia.

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