This project will explore the role of official development assistance (ODA) in the foreign policies of the U.S. and Japan, specifically in response to the challenges posed by the end of the Cold War and the collapse of Communism since 1989. As a regional case study, this comparative project will focus on ODA to the countries Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. Secondarily, it will also examine U.S. and Japanese approaches to the remaining Communist states, such as China and Vietnam. The research methodology addresses, in a comparative framework, questions of (1) national interests and the foreign policy making process, (2) the philosophy and design of ODA to the target regions, and (3) bilateral and multilateral coordination. This project will analyze lessons learned in one sphere of common security interest, namely ODA, which may have important implications for future partnership opportunities in the U.S.-Japan relationship.