Wilson Center: The Road Ahead for US-Japan Economic Security Partnership in the Indo-Pacific

 A discussion on the topic of how should 2 members of the Western Alliance of democratic countries, namely, US and Japan, should discuss with other governments  information and knowledge of a technical and scientific nature relative to an item's economic value--that having greater worth being secure and protected from general parlance.

The meeting took place on April 25, 2023, 9AM in the Wilson Center and was carried online.  Discussants were Professor Walter Hudson, National Defense University; Professor Yasuyuki Todo, Waseda University; Jun Osawa, Nakasone Peace Institute; and the introductions by Shihoko Goto, Director for Geoeconomics.

A brief 20th Century history of the topic was presented as the background of the Economic Security issue.

Actually, this topic has been lively debated since the rise of science in the annals of the history of science in the field of philosophy.  1.  Those doing innovative and creative work in theoretical science or its practical applications are cautioned to keep secret their scientific advances.  In the case of governments discussion of new concepts and ideas can be shared freely only among those closely aligned partners, such as Japan and the United States.  This would apply also to such practical applications in industry and business.

2.  Then, there's the everyday parlance of business and social transactions among those sharing a common heritage and cultural background.  So, for example, China and the United States, as friendly nations and members of the United Nations, do invest in one another's companies and enterprises as  normal business transactions--secrecy to preserve economic advantage not in play.

3. Finally, there's a special class of applied theoretical knowledge in the most advanced machinery and technology where the know-how to use the implement or conveyance is to be shared among certain members of the club or alliance, e.g., building and developing nuclear power plants.

Now with respect to the United States and Japan all 3 areas of economic knowledge could be shared between them. Professor Hudson, using the language of strategic approach, thought Ms. Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury, would place China as a competitor and so the innovative range of theoretical knowledge and highly valued applications probably would be off limits.