Parallels Between Japan's Decision to Attack the United States in WWII and Contemporary U.S.-China Relations

Abstract

World War II reshaped the world order, and U.S. involvement in that war was the result of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Recently, China has been expanding its sphere of influence and pushing against that of the United States. This thesis analyzes the U.S.Japanese relationship prior to World War II, focusing on Japanese militarism, economic tensions, and racism and mistrust in order to examine the current relationship between China and the United States and to determine the likelihood of another war. However, where Japan was accustomed to using military force to achieve its political and economic objectives, China is not. Rather, as the Chinese economy is interconnected with that of its rivals, China has sought to expand its influence through economic means, making the possibility of another large-scale war less likely than it was with Japan.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2020
Accession Number
AD1114580

Entities

People

  • Andrew C. Holcomb

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Asia
  • California
  • Climate Change
  • Commerce
  • Far East
  • Governments
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Law
  • International Organizations
  • International Relations
  • International Trade
  • National Security
  • Natural Resources
  • New York
  • Political Systems
  • Second World War
  • Security
  • South America
  • South Asia
  • Southeast Asia
  • Treaties
  • United States
  • War

Readers

  • Asian Economic Studies
  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Systems Analysis and Design