Puppets for Nipponrnby Pat ChoaternThe Japan Economic Journal reported in 1980 that “influencernin Washington is just like in Indonesia. It’s forrnsale.” It still is. Today, more than 100 foreign governmentsrnand hundreds of foreign corporations are running on-goingrnpolitical campaigns in the United States, as though they wererna third major political party.rnMexico, for instance, is spending more than $50 millionrnin 1993 to hire dozens of Washington, D.C., lobbyists, super-rnlawyers, former trade officials, political adyisors, and publicrnrelations specialists to secure passage of the North AmericanrnFree Iradc Agreement. Japan is spending more tlian $400rnmillion annually to operate a grass-roots political machinernacross America whose principal goal is to keep U.S. marketsrnopen to Japanese imports and investments even as Japan remainsrnclosed to U.S. investors and exports. Foreign corporationsrnand governments now finance most of the work of thosernU.S. think-tanks and universities that supply ideas to America’srnopinion-elite and politicians. And corporations fromrndozens of countries are contributing monies to both thernDemocratic and Republican parties and to hundreds of politicalrncandidates, just as though they were American voters.rnThe goal of these foreign political campaigns is simple—rnshape the outcome of decisions that direct!} affect their politicalrnand economic interests, decisions in which every davrnPat Choate is author of Agents of Influence fJ990) andrn”Japan’s Campaign for America” (Harvard BusinessrnReview), from which this article is adapted. He is directorrnof the Washington, D.C.-based Manufacturing PolicyrnProject. His other books include Being Number Onern(1980), America m Rums fJ98J), andThe High-FlexrnSociety (J 986j.rnhundreds of millions of dollars—and cumulatively billions ofrndollars—are on the line. By using their intelligence networksrnto monitor discussions before decisions have been made, theirrnwell-connected Washington insiders to lobby the U.S. government,rntheir public relations flacks to shape journalists’ coveragernof issues important to them, and by financing the work ofrnopinion leaders in American think-tanks and universities,rnthese foreign interests are able to shape how Wishington,rnD.C, thinks and acts.rnForeign interference in America’s domestic affairs is nothingrnnew. Ever since the arrial of Citizen Genet in 1795, foreignrninterests have rcgularh- sought to influence politics andrnpublic opinion in the United States. The Greek lobby, for instance,rnhas been able to sway U.S. relations with Turkey,rnGreece’s neighbor and rival. For many years, Chiang Kaishek’srnChinese lobby dominated American thinking onrnChina. The Israeli lobby has a powerful voice in America’srnMiddle Fast policymaking. The Irish lobby has long influencedrnAmerican policies on Northern Ireland.rnWhat is different today is the scope, nature, and goal of thisrnforeign politicking and propagandizing. Its goal is to buy economicrnadantage—to win in the back halls of governmentrninstead of in the open marketplace. And of all nations, Japanrnunderstands best that political power in America is a commodityrnlike all others that can be acquired by the highestrnbidder. Of all nations, Japan has been willing to pay the mostrnto shape America’s attitudes and actions. Of all nations,rnJapan wields the most striking power over America’s economicrnand trade policies. And of all nations, Japan succeedsrnbest at using its political strength in America to gain economicrnadvantage for itself.rn0er the past two decades, Japan has constructed an Amer-rn18/CHRONICLESrnrnrn