Ambassador Mike Mansfield firmly believed that the U.S.-Japan relationship is the most important bilateral relationship in the world, “bar none.” This conviction is honored through the Network, which identifies and supports professionals who demonstrate potential for becoming policy intellectuals in the mid- and long-term. The program assists in building the professional networks of the participants and enhances their opportunities and abilities to engage with policy-relevant research.
Since 2009, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation and the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership have been building and providing opportunities for a Network of fifty-four trained specialists in the academic, government, non-profit, and corporate sectors of the United States. The 2019-21 cohort, which includes experts based in Japan, represents the strongest and most diverse addition to the Network to date.
Cohort Five’s planned program agenda includes a two-day workshop in Washington, DC this June, followed by a retreat held in the Mansfields’ home state of Montana. Next year, the cohort will conduct week-long study trips to Washington and Japan before culminating in a public symposium in June 2021.
