Ambassador Sheinwald discusses how he envisages international relations will form in the near and far future. He places particular emphasis on the growing importance of the US-China relationship. At the same time, Ambassador Sheinwald explores the EU as a key global power and its necessary cooperation with the US.

Synopsis

Ambassador Sheinwald clearly feels that the international stage is moving. In fact, for him, the change in the international order is accelerating due to the global financial crisis. In this sense, Ambassador Sheinwald explains that the UK has long supported expanding decision-making international institutions such as the UN Security Council. However, the UK still sees the value in intimate, power-focused bodies such as the G8. Ambassador Sheinwald discusses the fact that there is increasingly a sense that a ‘G2’ is developing between the US and China. To Ambassador Sheinwald, this model would not literally work as he argues China needs, at this stage in its development, a multilateral setting to grow into the active and cooperative power we would all like to see it become. At the same time, Ambassador Sheinwald believes that the partnership between the US and China is important in paving a solution to the current economic state and shaping the future global economy. In fact, the UK and the EU welcome this new cooperation between the two powers. Ambassador Sheinwald feels the US and the EU can harness China’s shared global interest on issues such as climate change, in which the EU has played a front role, to develop at stable global relationship. Moreover, he believes that if the US and EU can cooperate to form low carbon economies, it could incentivize China and India to act similarly. However, Ambassador Sheinwald stresses that for non-economic issues the US and China’s relationship is still important but slow moving, and he expresses the belief that it will take decades for any real ‘G2’ to emerge.

In the meantime, Ambassador Sheinwald argues that while the US looks round the world for support on key issues, it will find that the EU shares the most values and has the capacity to promote them. He cites the enormous investments between the two in comparison to the US and China to show the scale of the US and the EU’s relationship. Ambassador Sheinwald argues that financially the US and EU need regulatory cooperation, using a scientific basis, to set global standards. He stresses as well that the EU is a major global power on its own. It is increasingly seen as an honest, multilateral broker and plays a crucial in global economic recovery. Moreover, it has strong interest in fighting world terrorism. In comparison to other partners, the US can find similar values, intelligence, and capacity in the EU. In addition, the US can see more stability in Europe’s own backyard than perhaps 20 years ago. Looking to the future, Ambassador Sheinwald hopes that the Lisbon Treaty would help the EU organize itself further. Further stressing the importance of the US-EU partnership, Ambassador Sheinwald explains “nothing is more likely to be as dependable a foundation.”

In taking the time to answer questions, Ambassador Sheinwald discusses a number of issues. One partiuclar area of focus much emphasized was Europe's role in the conflict in Afghanistan. In addition, he addresses the issue of Britain and the US's relationship with China. Moreover, he also explains that he hopes that as developed countries deal with increasing security threats, their resolve in keeping their borders open will remain strong. Finally, Ambassador Sheinwald stresses the need to employ methods of sustainable, intelligent, and low carbon growth.

About the Speaker

Nigel Sheinwald joined the British Diplomatic Service in 1976 and has served in Washington (twice), Brussels (twice) and Moscow and in a wide range of policy jobs in London. 

He took up his position as British Ambassador to the United States in October 2007.  In that role he leads the Embassy in Washington and nine Consulates-General around the United States.   He had an earlier posting to Washington in 1983-87 as First Secretary (Political) in the Embassy. 

Before becoming Ambassador in Washington, Sir Nigel served as Foreign Policy and Defence Adviser to the Prime Minister from 2003-2007.

Sir Nigel was the UK Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the European Union in Brussels from 2000-2003.  Before that he was Europe Director in the FCO (1998-2000).  He had an earlier posting in the UK Representation in 1993-95 as Head of its Political and Institutional Section.  He began his career in EU work as Deputy Head of the FCO's European Union Department in 1989-92. 

Sir Nigel's first foreign posting was in Moscow in 1978-79.  He was also Head of the Foreign Office's Anglo-Soviet Section in 1981-83.

Sir Nigel has had a wide variety of other appointments in the FCO in London.  From 1995-98, he was the FCO Press Secretary and Head of News Department.  He was Deputy Head of the Foreign Office's Policy Planning Staff in 1987-1989, responsible for transatlantic relations and other issues.  He also worked in London on the Japan Desk (1976-77) and on Zimbabwe (1979-81), including the Lancaster House Conference.

Sir Nigel was born in 1953 and educated at Harrow County Grammar School and Balliol College, Oxford.  He is married with three sons.

This event is jointly sponsored by the Office for International Visitors at the Bechtel International Center, the Forum on Contemporary Europe, and the British Consulate General in San Francisco.

In this session of the Shorenstein APARC Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellows Research Presentations, the following will be presented:

Jun Ding, “Corporate Social Responsibility in State-Owned Enterprises”

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) play an important role in China’s industrialization achievement and support social service functions in the planning era.  After China entered the marketing era, SOEs declined substantially and are in need of reform.  Ding believes SOEs should be restructured and that supernumeraries and social services functions should be separated from the primary mission of SOEs into society.  Ding’s research emphasizes recommendations found in corporate social responsibility that exists in China.

Mitsutoshi Kumagai,  “Impact on Growing On-line Video Services on Pay TV Business Model”

Recently, YouTube is not the only online video service many people enjoy.  Big players of traditional broadcasting industries are making strategic approaches in online space.  Kumagai’s presentation reviews and assesses those challenges in TV industries and its value as advertisement media.

Tadashi Ogino, “Smart Meters in the United States and Japan”

A smart meter is an advanced electric meter that measures the electricity usage in more detail than a conventional meter. Utility companies and customers can use this data for energy efficiency. A smart meter is a key component for the next generation electric grid.  Many smart meters have already been installed in the US, but smart meters are not used in Japan. Ogino analyzes the current situation of smart meter projects in the US and in Japan. He tries to understand why smart meters are not prominent in Japan.

Ayaka Takashima, "Women Entrepreneurs in Japan and the United States”

Recently in Japan, women entrepreneurs have been becoming one of the career choices for women. As an employee of Nissouken, which provides entrepreneurship program, Takashima is trying to reveal women entrepreneurs' habitat and tendency through comparative research.

In this session of the Shorenstein APARC Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellows Research Presentations, the following will be presented:

Jiecheng Cheng, “Knowledge Management of the Petroleum Enterprise”

Knowledge management as an effective tool to retain, capture, share and reuse organization knowledge.  This is important in dealing with the problem of lost knowledge caused by a company’s growth, employee turnover, retirement, and the quandary caused by information explosion.  Petroleum enterprises are more knowledge intensive and could benefit from knowledge management.  Cheng’s research presents the concept and theory of knowledge management, the needed technologies, the role of the people, the key practical issues, and the future of knowledge management. 

Yoshiko Moriguchi, “Demand Response by Smart Meters”

A smart meter is generally defined as a type of advanced electrical meter that enables to monitor the energy consumption at real time base or near real time base. It has the additional features more than simple automated meter reading and can provide customers with the feedback to encourage their actions for saving energy and money.  In North America and Europe, many studies have been conducted to address the relation of data feedback and customer’s behaviors. Japanese utilities just started to consider installation of smart meters, therefore, this research will address the topics that can be referred to demand response by smart meters for residential customers in Japan.

Boyoung Shin, “Korea's Public Policy Profile Amidst Regime Change: Analysis of President Noh's  Real Estate Policy”

After nearly half a century of conservatives in power, Korea’s center left party (the NCNP and the MDP ) won the presidential elections in 1997 and 2002 consecutively and became the ruling party until the beginning of 2008. This major transformation of power struggle structure in Korea subsequently led characteristic changes in the public policy making tendency of its administration. Yet, Korea still was in the midst of the Neo-liberalized way of economical and social structural reform that was guided by IMF since the1997 financial crisis.  In his research Shin examines the Noh administration’s challenge to compensate its supporters by exploring its particular public policy:  “Real Estate Policy of Noh Administration”.

In this session of the Shorenstein APARC Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellows Research Presentations, the following will be presented:

Hiroyuki Koyano, "The Strategy for Accerlation of Patent Examination - Focusing on Human Resource Management"

The number of patent application filings has increased across the world as a result of the globalization of the world economy. In addition, technology has become more complex and the demands for a quality patent has grown. Working against this trend, the period of patent examination has become longer, so patent offices have adopted plans to remedy the situation and accelerate patent examination. Hiroyuki Koyano attempts to compare the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) plans with those of JPO’s and analyze the problems focusing mainly on human resource management.

Mitsue Kurihara, "The Recent M&A Boom in Japan"

Mergers and Acquisitons in Japan have been booming since the late 1990s. What initially started as a method for industrial rehabilitation, today, M&A is put to use by many companies as part of their corporate strategy. Utilizing her experiences as an advisor for M&A, Kurihara researches the remarkable trend in the boom of Japanese M&A over the last ten years, as well as the future of Japanese M&A market in terms of where it should be headed.

Bhavna Sharma, “Polymorphisms in Breast Cancer Mutation Carriers: Comparative Studies in Caucasian and Hong Kong Population”

Breast cancer rates differ significantly in Asia compared to the United States and other western countries.  Lifestyle and genetic differences between these populations are probably causes of this variation.  Sharma presents findings from her study that hypothesized that the genetic breast cancer risk factors that differ between BRCA1/2 mutation carriers in Asia and the U.S. may result in a different magnitude of breast cancer risk among Asians versus Caucasians who carry BRCA1/2 mutations.

In this session of the Shorenstein APARC Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellows Research Presentations, the following will be presented:

Kazuhiko Ejima, "Will Japan Need a Tax Increase?"

Japan, the second largest economy in the world, is secretly facing a significant public debt problem with the worst debt-to-GDP ratio among developed countries. Despite the crisis, the country has long failed in introducing a tax increase. What obstacles are lurking in the country? Will they change in the future? Should the country try to overcome them? In Japan, it is widely believed that raising the consumption tax is the best approach to fixing the country’s finances. In contrast, based on the character of the obstacles, Ejima argues that any new budget reconstruction plan should focus more on economic growth through expenditure renovation rather than sticking to a tax increase.

Natsuki Kamiya, "Insolvent Municipalities:  Do They Need Bankruptcy?”

While municipalities can declare bankruptcy in the United States, there is no bankruptcy system for municipalities in Japan. Japanese cities in financial distress pay off all debts in full for long term, while American counterparts can seek bankruptcy protection. Kamiya examines what the differences are between the two countries. Kamiya attempts to answer the question – “Does Japan need legislation to allow municipalities to declare bankruptcy?”

Daisuke Maeda, "Long Tail Theory in Online Retail Commerce - Is It True or Not? Is It Profitable?"

The Long Tail is one of the most famous theories in online retail commerce.  Many start-ups in online commerce use this theory to justify themselves.  However, there are times when the Long Tail does not work and may have some constraints.  Maeda considers what the Long Tail is and what he would advise online retailers to do. 

Koji Toyoshima, "Quantitative Analysis and Possibility of Reduction of CO₂ Emission from Passenger Transportation in Japan and the U.S."

The U.S. and Japan are the world largest and the second largest economy.  However, the CO₂ emissions in these two countries are very different. The total U.S. CO₂ emission per capita is more than twice of that in Japan. Twenty to thirty percent of CO₂ emission comes from the transportation sector and sixty to seventy percent of them are passenger transportation in each country. The U.S. CO₂ emission per capita in the passenger transportation sector is more than three times of that in Japan.  Toyoshima analyzes and compares the breakdown of CO₂ emissions in the passenger transportation sector in Japan and the U.S. including the influences of public transportations to understand the trend and estimate the reduction possibility of CO₂ emissions in these two countries.

Kathryn Stoner-Weiss is Deputy Director, Senior Research Scholar at CDDRL. Prior to coming to Stanford, she was on the faculty at Princeton University for nine years, jointly appointed to the Department of Politics and the Woodrow Wilson School for International and Public Affairs. At Princeton she received the Ralph O. Glendinning Preceptorship awarded to outstanding junior faculty. She also served as a Visiting Associate Professor of Political Science at Columbia University, and an Assistant Professor of Political Science at McGill University. She has held fellowships at Harvard University as well as the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC.

In addition to many articles and book chapters on contemporary Russia, she is the author of two single authored books: Resisting the State: Reform and Retrenchment in Post-Soviet Russia (Cambridge, 2006), and Local Heroes: The Political Economy of Russian Regional Governance (Princeton, 1997). She is also co-editor (along with Michael McFaul) of After the Collapse of Communism: Comparative Lessons of Transitions (Cambridge, 2004).

She received a BA and MA in Political Science from the University of Toronto, and a PhD in Government from Harvard University. She speaks Russian and French.

CO-SPONSORED BY CREES

Although South Korea has democratized, the weakness of liberalism there as a major political ideology and value system has prevented the full flowering of democracy.  This talk will examine the historical roots of liberalism's failure to take firm root in Korean politics and society.  The causes of such weakness are to be found, in both of the two major social and political forces in Korean society,  conservatives and radical/progressive forces; neither has been or is liberal.  The resulting problems include a strong, highly centralized state and its authoritarian tendencies,  the failure to create a stable party system, civil society's weak autonomy vis-à-vis the state, and inadequate constitutional checks-and-balances among the three branches of government exacerbated by a weak judiciary.  With democratic practice falling ever farther behind the Korean people's aspirations, enhanced liberalism will not solve all problems.  Nevertheless, Dr. Choi argues, it could point the way toward a richer Korean democracy.

Jang Jip Choi is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Korea University, Seoul, Korea, and currently a Visiting Professor in the Sociology Department at Stanford University.  Specializing in contemporary political history in Korea, the theory of democracy, comparative politics and labor politics, professor Choi is the author of many books, scholarly articles and political commentaries on Korean politics,  including  Democracy after Democratization in Korea (2002),  Which Democracy? (2007), and From Minjung to Citizens (2008).  Professor Choi holds a B.A. in political science from Korea University, and  an M.A. and a Ph.D in Political Science from the University of Chicago. He was a professor in the department of political science at Korea University until his retirement in 2008.