This project was launched in June 1996 as the first of the study groups organized to promote policy-related contributions from Japanese researchers under the Global ThinkNet Fellows Program. Under the guidance of Professor Masashi Nishihara of the National Defense Academy of Japan, six young and promising political scientists examined Japan’s foreign and security policy options for the 21st century. The group regularly met for in-depth discussions on various security-related topics, attended lectures and briefings by experts directly involved in security policy making, and participated in overseas workshops in Southeast Asia (October 1996) and the United States (October 1997).

The participants’ new policy proposals for Japan’s foreign and security policy were published in an edited volume, Old Issues, New Responses.