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When East Meets West
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12084 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
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12 / 1987 |
1,644 Words |
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Julian Weiss
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One of the most dramatic events today is the way the sun is setting on Japan's economy. While the economic problems of that mighty nation are beginning to be understood by serious observers, relevant scenarios have been played out for the past few years at a little-known think tank in Hawaii. In its campuslike ambience, scholars and businessmen have explored not only the currency realignment but the whole question of Japan's emergence as a world power. Other significant long-range issues - including the impact of foreign educational systems and the lack of attention to social problems - have been examined. The effect of aging on the Japanese population is being studied since changing demographics mean that fewer workers will support a larger non-working population (much like the social security problem in the United States).
Charles Morrison has directed much of the program at the East-West Center (EWC) and is a key player in the often-elusive drive to synergize ideas across both sides of the Pacific. "When we started to look at Japan in an in-depth way," he explains, "we really tried to avoid duplicating other people's efforts." Whether one agrees with many of the conclusions about Japan, few doubt that the center succeeded in breaking new ground. Its probes foretold both a slowdown in Japan's economic juggernaut and an inward-looking reexamination that would confound the nation's citizenry.
EWC's goal is to identify future problems and then seek practical policy options for nations coping with issues such as urbanization, a lack of natural resources, and a fledgling infrastructure - to name a few. "Sometimes just getting countries to understand each other is difficult," says Clyde Prestowitz, until recently the U.S. Commerce Department's point man for international trade and an EWC alumnus. "That's where the center really helps."
The East-West constituency comes from the world's most dynamic region. As the sun rises over Hawaii, night descends on Calcutta. Neon lights along Tokyo's Ginza flutter when open-air markets across Bangkok bustle with activity. Ifugao Indians in central Luzon (the Philippines) farm a 4,000-year-old network of terraces and irrigation canals, while Hawaiian sugar growers use robots to cut and sort their harvest. In California a high-tech panorama propels a bedazzled planet into the next century, and at the same time Australian cattle barons are meandering through the Victoria countryside inspecting their herds.
Distinguished alumni
Launched in 1962 with congressional backing, the EWC was established for the purpose of "cooperative study, training, and research." Some 38,000 graduates compose the center's high-powered alumni. They include former South Korean Prime Minister Nam Duck Woo, Northern Marianas Governor Carlos Comacho, and former director of the Economic and Development Authority in the Philippines Gerardo Sicat.
The Japanese comprise the second largest group of graduates, after the United States, with over 5,000 alumni. These include Mitsura Misawa, senior vice president of the Industrial Bank of Japanm and Tsutomu Okazaki, vice president of Sumitomo Corporation. American graduates from the EWC are in executive positions, sprinkled across government agencies, universities, and Fortune 500 corporations.
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