National Bureau of Asian Research

The National Bureau of Asian Research, commonly known as NBR, is an American nonprofit research institution headquartered in Seattle, Washington, with an office in Washington, D.C. It convenes scholars, policymakers, business leaders, and other specialists to study issues affecting U.S. relations with East, Central, Southeast, and South Asia, as well as Russia and the broader Asia-Pacific region. Its work covers strategic and political affairs, national security, trade, investment, economic engagement, energy, environmental policy, public health, aging, and regional globalization. NBR was established in 1989 as a legacy organization associated with the ideas of U.S. Senator Henry M. Jackson. During the 1970s, Jackson discussed the need for a national institution that could connect foreign-policy decision makers with academic specialists working on the Soviet Union and Asia. Kenneth B. Pyle, director of the University of Washington's Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, helped develop the concept. Jackson also sought support from Edward Carlson of United Airlines and Thornton Wilson of Boeing. The organization was initially created as the National Bureau of Asian and Soviet Research with support from the Henry M. Jackson Foundation and The Boeing Company. Pyle became its founding president. In 1992, the institution adopted its current name after removing the reference to Soviet research. NBR's research model combines independent analysis, commissioned projects, conferences, fellowships, publications, and policy engagement. Its Political and Security Affairs work includes strategic studies, China security, U.S. national security, regional politics, leadership, and the Strategic Asia program. Its Trade, Economic, and Energy Affairs work examines Asian energy markets, energy security, climate and environmental questions, trade, investment, innovation policy, financial systems, and economic reform. The Energy Security Program, operating since 2004, is one of its longest-running initiatives. NBR has also served as secretariat for the invitation-only Pacific Energy Summit, which brought together government, business, and research leaders to consider rising energy demand and climate-related challenges. The institution has developed specialized centers and chairs to deepen its research. The Center for Health and Aging, established in 2003, helped create the Pacific Health Summit, an international meeting focused on prevention, early detection, treatment, and the human and economic costs of disease. After NBR's role in the annual summit concluded in 2012, the center shifted toward more targeted research. The John M. Shalikashvili Chair in National Security Studies was endowed in 2006 to support distinguished scholarship on Asia-Pacific national-security issues. The Kenneth B. and Anne H.H. Pyle Center for Northeast Asian Studies was also created in 2006. In 2010, NBR launched the Slade Gorton International Policy Center, extending its work on economics, trade, national security, and the domestic organization of U.S. policy. NBR is also a publisher. Its output includes books, reports, occasional papers, and peer-reviewed research. Strategic Asia, an annual edited volume first published in 2001, assesses political, economic, and military trends and the strategic choices shaping the region. Asia Policy, a quarterly journal launched in 2006, presents research on the Asia-Pacific with an emphasis on implications for U.S. policy. From 2009 to 2011, NBR partnered with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars on the National Asia Research Program, which sought to strengthen policy-relevant research and develop a national community of Asia specialists. NBR's funding has come from a combination of institutional resources, foundations, corporations, government departments and agencies, and individual donors. It operates as a research and convening institution rather than as a commercial consumer brand, and its principal offerings are knowledge products, expert networks, policy forums, and research programs.

The National Bureau of Asian Research was founded in 1989 as the National Bureau of Asian and Soviet Research. Its intellectual origins lay in Senator Henry M. Jackson's concern during the 1970s that U.S. foreign-policy institutions lacked a durable bridge between government decision makers and university-based specialists on Asia and the Soviet Union. Jackson worked with Kenneth B. Pyle of the University of Washington and recruited business leaders Edward Carlson of United Airlines and Thornton Wilson of Boeing to help establish such an institution. Grants from the Henry M. Jackson Foundation and Boeing supported the organization's creation, and Pyle became its founding president. Seven years after Jackson's death, the institution formally began operations. In 1992 it shortened its name to the National Bureau of Asian Research, reflecting a more concentrated institutional identity focused on Asia. From its Seattle base, and later through a Washington, D.C., branch office, NBR developed a role as a convening and research organization serving the intersection of scholarship and public policy. Its programs expanded across political and security affairs, trade, economics, energy, environmental policy, health, and aging. The Strategic Asia Program became a major vehicle for examining long-term political, economic, and military developments. Since 2001, the program has supported the annual Strategic Asia volume, which brings together regional and thematic studies by specialists. In 2006, NBR began publishing Asia Policy, a quarterly journal designed to pair academic research with practical policy conclusions. NBR's energy work became especially prominent through the Energy Security Program, which has examined Asian energy markets and their geopolitical consequences since 2004. The organization also served as secretariat for the Pacific Energy Summit, an invitation-only forum for government, business, and research leaders addressing energy demand, climate change, and related policy challenges. Health became another area of institutional development. NBR established its Center for Health and Aging in 2003. Discussions among NBR leaders, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and other partners led to the Pacific Health Summit, first held in 2005. The summit brought together senior figures in global health, research, government, and business. NBR concluded its role in the annual meeting in 2012 and subsequently directed the center toward more focused projects based on the summit's themes and results. NBR also created named centers and chairs. The John M. Shalikashvili Chair in National Security Studies was endowed in 2006 to support distinguished research and policy engagement on Asia-Pacific security. The Kenneth B. and Anne H.H. Pyle Center for Northeast Asian Studies was created the same year to advance comprehensive research on Northeast Asian security, politics, and economics. In 2010, the Slade Gorton International Policy Center was launched to build on NBR's economic and trade work while also addressing U.S. national-security organization and external threats. From 2009 through 2011, NBR partnered with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars on the National Asia Research Program. The initiative sought to strengthen the national infrastructure for policy-relevant Asia research and selected research associates and fellows from leading U.S. institutions. Across these activities, NBR has remained a nonprofit platform for producing analysis, publishing research, developing expert networks, and connecting specialists with policymakers and business leaders.

• 2012

  Annual Pacific Health Summit concludes under NBR secretariat

  [1]National Bureau of Asian Researchen.wikipedia.org

  After NBR's role in the annual summit ended, its health work shifted toward targeted projects.

• 2010

  Slade Gorton International Policy Center launched

  [1]National Bureau of Asian Researchen.wikipedia.org

  The new center incorporated economic and trade work while addressing broader questions of U.S. international-policy organization and security.

• 2006

  Asia Policy and named research centers expand NBR's platform

  [1]National Bureau of Asian Researchen.wikipedia.org

  NBR launched the Asia Policy quarterly and created the Shalikashvili Chair and Pyle Center for Northeast Asian Studies.

• 2005

  First Pacific Health Summit

  [1]National Bureau of Asian Researchen.wikipedia.org

  NBR and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center convened the inaugural summit in Seattle.

• 2004

  Energy Security Program develops

  [1]National Bureau of Asian Researchen.wikipedia.org

  NBR's long-running energy initiative began examining Asian energy markets, policy, and geopolitical implications.

• 2003

  Center for Health and Aging established

  [1]National Bureau of Asian Researchen.wikipedia.org

  NBR formed a center addressing health, aging, prevention, early detection, and treatment in the Asia-Pacific context.

• 2001

  Strategic Asia publication begins

  [1]National Bureau of Asian Researchen.wikipedia.org

  NBR began publishing its annual Strategic Asia edited volume on regional economic, political, military, and strategic trends.

• 1992

  Name changed to National Bureau of Asian Research

  [1]National Bureau of Asian Researchen.wikipedia.org

  The institution dropped the reference to Soviet research as its regional identity developed around Asia and the Asia-Pacific.

• 1989

  Founding as the National Bureau of Asian and Soviet Research

  [1]National Bureau of Asian Researchen.wikipedia.org

  The organization was established with support from the Henry M. Jackson Foundation and Boeing, with Kenneth B. Pyle as founding president.

An independent, policy-oriented U.S. research institution connecting academic expertise with government and business decision making on Asian and Asia-Pacific affairs.

• Annual research volume · 2001

  Strategic Asia

  Strategic Asia is NBR's annual edited publication assessing major economic, political, military, and strategic trends across Asia. It combines country, regional, and thematic chapters prepared by specialists in Asian studies and international relations, with an emphasis on the strategies and policy choices shaping the region.

• Peer-reviewed journal · 2006

  Asia Policy

  Asia Policy is a quarterly journal featuring scholarly research on the Asia-Pacific and translating that research into conclusions relevant to U.S. policy. It provides a publication channel for academic and policy analysis concerning regional politics, security, economics, and international relations.

• Policy summit

  Pacific Energy Summit

  The Pacific Energy Summit was an invitation-only forum convened by NBR's Trade, Economic, and Energy Affairs group. It brought together government officials, corporate leaders, and researchers to discuss rising energy demand, energy security, environmental change, and possible policy and technology responses across the Asia-Pacific.

• Research and fellowship program · 2009

  National Asia Research Program

  The National Asia Research Program was a joint NBR and Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars initiative intended to strengthen policy-relevant Asia research in the United States. It included national conferences and a cohort of research associates and fellows selected from prominent research organizations and universities.

• Research program · 2004

  Energy Security Program

  NBR's Energy Security Program studies Asian energy markets, energy policy, environmental security, and the geopolitical consequences of changing supply and demand. The program represents one of the institution's longest-running research initiatives and informs its broader work on trade, investment, and regional economic engagement.

• 2009National Asia Research Program

  United States · Asia-Pacific

  NBR partnered with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars to promote a stronger national network for policy-relevant Asia research through conferences, associateships, and fellowships.

  Outcome. The partnership operated through 2011 and produced a cohort of National Asia Research Associates and Fellows.

  Source
• 2005Pacific Health Summit

  Asia-Pacific · United States · Global

  NBR's Center for Health and Aging helped establish an international summit on prevention, early detection, treatment, and the human and financial costs of disease.

  Outcome. The annual meeting continued with multiple institutional partners until NBR concluded its secretariat role in 2012.

  Source

• 2012

  Shift in health-program strategyStrategy

  Background

  NBR's Center for Health and Aging had supported the annual Pacific Health Summit since its launch in 2005.

  Action taken

  NBR concluded its annual summit role and redirected the center toward more targeted work based on earlier summit themes and outcomes.

  Aftermath

  The organization's health and aging activities became more focused rather than centered on a recurring large-scale meeting.

  Source

• 2006

  Expansion of named research infrastructureStrategy

  Background

  NBR sought to deepen its long-term research capacity in security and Northeast Asian affairs.

  Action taken

  It created the John M. Shalikashvili Chair in National Security Studies and the Kenneth B. and Anne H.H. Pyle Center for Northeast Asian Studies.

  Aftermath

  The initiatives strengthened NBR's institutional focus on national security and Northeast Asian political, economic, and strategic dynamics.

  Source

• 1992

  Adoption of the National Bureau of Asian Research nameStrategy

  Background

  The organization had originally been established with a mandate covering Asian and Soviet research.

  Action taken

  NBR removed "and Soviet" from its name, reflecting a more Asia-centered institutional identity.

  Aftermath

  The revised name became the organization's enduring public identity.

  Source

1. 1National Bureau of Asian Researchen.wikipedia.org
2. 2National Bureau of Asian Research official websitenbr.org