Annual Report - Chatham House

This year’s programme has ranged widely. Michael
Dillon from Durham University has spoken on Xinjiang
province and what America’s ‘war on terrorism’ means
for the area, and Lou Jianbo from Cambridge has
examined the crippling bad debt problems of China’s
state banks.
In March Li Luoli, director of the China Development
Institute (CDI) in Shenzhen, spoke on the state of
foreign direct investment in China. Other meetings
have discussed the integration of Hong Kong with
Southern China, the rise of Chinese nationalism and
the current situation in Tibet.
Contact: Stephen Green E-mail: cdg@riia.org
Japan Discussion Group
The Japan Discussion Group has continued its monthly
meetings thanks to the generous support of the Great
Britain Sasakawa Foundation. The meetings, convened
by Dr Christopher Hood (Associate Fellow, RIIA and
Director, Cardiff Japanese Studies Centre, University of
Wales at Cardiff), are usually attended by around
20 people. After a presentation on an important theme
relating to Japan, there is a roundtable discussion.
Topics this year have included the continuing economic
problems in Japan, Japanese energy policy, and the
electoral systems in Britain and Japan. From time to
time, the group is expanded for larger discussions, in
collaboration with other programmes at Chatham
House or with external organizations such as JETRO.
At one of these events we welcomed as speaker
Dr Heizo Takenaka, Japanese Minister for Economic
Trade and Industry.
Contact: Christopher Hood
E-mail: HoodCP@Cardiff.ac.uk
Latin America Projects
Project work on Latin America (LAP), re-introduced
at Chatham House in October 2000, will eventually
be integrated into the new Americas Programme.
Currently LAP is examining prospects for MERCOSUR
(the Common Market of South America), including its
external relations with the rest of the Americas and the
European Union. The project is coordinated by Mike
Mecham, on secondment from the British government,
and includes Professor José Augusto Guilhon
Albuquerque, a Visiting Fellow from the University of
Saõ Paulo supported by the Brazilian government.
In September 2001, LAP established a MERCOSUR
Study Group, chaired by Professor Victor Bulmer-
Thomas with representatives from MERCOSUR and
EU governments, business, academia and NGOs. As
well as briefings, conferences and plans for a major
publication, the group has started a series of monthly
theme-based workshops, which cover political and
defence cooperation, economic, trade, regulatory
and social developments, and an examination of the
external agenda. The initial phase of the work is
expected to run until 2003.
Chatham House is an active participant in the
EU-Latin America Forum organized by the Institute
of Strategic and International Studies in Lisbon.
We are also associated with the EU-MERCOSUR
project of Chaire MERCOSUR at Sciences Po in Paris.
Contact: Mike Mecham
E-mail: mmecham@riia.org
United States Discussion Group
As part of a developing research programme on the
Americas, Chatham House has established a new
United States Discussion Group (USDG), chaired by
Professor Michael Cox of the University of Wales at
Aberystwyth. The USDG invites leading experts in US
studies to look at a range of issues affecting the
transatlantic relationship. The first meetings were on
‘Homeland Security’ and America’s perception of its
role abroad.
The Institute’s aim is to develop the USDG into a Study
Group with research activities and events taking place
on both sides of the Atlantic. Together with the
Caribbean and the MERCOSUR Study Groups, it will
form the core of a new Americas programme that will
encompass research on the whole region.
Contact: Sacha Tan E-mail: stan@riia.org
BACKGROUND: Participants at a British-Angola Forum seminar on the future
of Angola’s foreign policy.
The Royal Institute of International Affairs — Annual Report 2001-2002 7