Young Leaders
Pacific Forum CSIS

The Young Leaders Program at Pacific Forum CSIS invites selected up-and-coming young professionals and post-graduate students to participate in a series of Pacific Forum policy dialogues and conferences, which are normally limited to seasoned experts. The program serves as a catalyst for training young Asian and American professionals in international policy affairs at an early juncture in their careers, while also giving greater voice to the younger generation's viewpoints within the elite circles of policy specialists.

The Young Leaders program has four objectives:

* To foster education in the practical aspects and complexities of policy-making;
* To generate a greater exchange of views between young and seasoned professionals;
* To promote cross-cultural interaction and cooperation among younger professionals;
* To enrich dialogues with generational perspectives for the benefit of all attendees.

Program Description.

Before each conference Young Leaders are given a list of suggested readings relevant to the conference. Each Young Leader event has an introductory session, where Young Leaders become acquainted with each other and with the program. At some conferences, Young Leaders are asked to give a short presentation on an issue relevant to the topic of the conference. Recently, the Young Leaders Program hasexpanded to include a full day of meetings by the host organization to gain insight into local views of security issues and to gain familiarity with local political and security institutions. During the conference, Young Leaders are encouraged to participate and contribute views, and Pacific Forum senior staff encourages sidebar interactionswith senior experts. Young Leaders also participate in private breakfast meetings with prominent experts such as Richard Armitage, former deputy secretary of state, and Han Sung-joo, former South Korea foreign minister. At the conclusion of the meeting, Pacific Forum Executive Director and Young Leaders Program Director Brad Glosserman chairs a seminar for Young Leaders only to probe for more in-depth views. Young Leaders are required to write a brief position paper on a topic from the meeting, which is critiqued at the Young Leaders seminar. Recent projects include participation in simulations, and joint projects to encourage collaboration and build networks. Young Leaders' essays are published as part of the Pacific Forum Issues & Insights series available at the Pacific Forum website www.pacificforum.org. The Young Leaders also have their own website (http://pacforumyoungleaders.org) to exchange thoughts and ideas.

Project support.

Pacific Forum has one grant from the Freeman Foundation and one from the Henry Luce Foundationsupporting the Young Leaders Program. Additional funding will be sought from small foundations, in Hawaii and elsewhere, as well as in cost-sharing arrangements with various universities and organizations. To date, this has included Harvard, Boston, Columbia, and Princeton universities; the University of California at Berkeley; the Council on Foreign Relations; the Brookings Institution; he CNA Corp.; Korea University; the Seoul-based New Asia Research Institute; the American Studies Center at Fudan University; the Taipei-based National Institute for Policy Research; the Institute for International Research at National Chengchi University; as well as the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy and the Hawaii-based Strong Foundation. As these cost-sharing arrangements are provided on a case-by-case basis, it is difficult to predict which conferences these grants will be applied to or for how many Young Leaders. Pacific Forum also has a limited amount of unrestricted general funds that are applied to unmet funding for salary and overhead expenses to implement this program.

For more information, please contact Brad Glosserman, Executive Director at Pacific Forum CSIS, pacforum@hawaii.rr.com or 808-521-6745 (Honolulu, Hawaii).

YOUNG LEADER CONFERENCES -2007

The Pacific Forum has funds in hand to convene at least six major conferences in 2007, which are dedicated to fulfilling the core obligation of policy analysis from senior, experienced professionals.

CSCAP WMD Study Group (San Francisco, February 2007 and Hanoi, Fall 2007). The biannual WMD Study Group meeting draws about 40 senior participants from the 21 CSCAP member institutions (including North Korea) to examine multilateral and consensus-building approaches on solving nonproliferation and other divisive security issues. We plan on bringing at least 8 Young Leaders from Asia, two Americans, and three Young Leaders based in the host city to each conference in 2007.

13th Annual U.S.-Japan Security Seminar (San Francisco, March 2007). The Pacific Forum joins with the Japan Institute for International Affairs (JIIA) each year to convene a senior-level policy dialogue on the future direction of the alliance. This seminar has earned a reputation for playing a critical role in promoting candid, off-the-record dialogue between our two nations, aimed at strengthening the alliance by anticipating and offering suggestions to address potential problems. Participants include 40-50 current and former government officials, analysts, and scholars who are the most knowledgeable in our two countries on alliance management. We plan on involving about 10 Young Leaders, including from Tokyo, Hawaii, and other US mainland cities, including both Japanese and Americans based in the U.S.

Re-examining Strategic Goals in U.S., Japan, and China Relations (China, April 2007). With core funding from US-Japan Foundation, the Pacific Forum is convening this workshop with a cross-section of 15-20 experts from the three countries to examine a range of political, security, and economic challenges facing the three powers, particularly putting recent China-Japan tensions in a broader context of US interests. The outcome will draw attention to the long-term strategic goals of the three countries, and how current policy positions and pronouncements -on all three sides- impact the realization of those goals. We plan to involve about 12 Young Leaders from the three countries, including those based in China.

U.S.-Japan-ROK Relations for the 21st Century (Spring, 2007). Trilateral coordination among the U.S., Japan, and the ROK is essential, but strains between Tokyo and Seoul have made trilateral cooperation difficult, if not impossible. This series of meetings will explore the roots of conflict, ways to ameliorate tensions, and the stakes involved as the three countries deal with North Korea, the rise of China, and military modernization efforts.

Asia-Pacific Security Forum (Taiwan, Fall 2007). The Pacific Forum collaborates with the Institute for National Policy Research (INPR, Taiwan), the Institute for Strategic and Development Studies (ISDS) (Manila), and the Institut Francais des Relations Internationales (Paris), to conduct this annual forum of about 30 senior experts aimed at promoting multilateral security dialogue on regional and global issues, including (but not limited to) the cross-Strait relationship. We plan on involving at least 13 Young Leaders, including 8 from Asia, 2 Americans, and 4 based locally. We will arrange separate briefings and meetings for the group with institutes and government agencies in Taipei either before or after the conference.