Why didn't the USA want Japan to become a military superpower during the Cold War?
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  Why didn't the USA want Japan to become a military superpower during the Cold War?
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Author Topic: Why didn't the USA want Japan to become a military superpower during the Cold War?  (Read 724 times)
buritobr
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« on: November 15, 2021, 05:47:20 PM »

In the mid 1950s, the USA supported the Bundeswehr to become a very strong army, located beside the National Volksaremee.

Why didn't the USA have the same approach to the Japan? The Japan Self-Defense Forces are very modest. Why didn't the USA want Japan to have very strong army, navy and air force, since Japan was a capitalist power located close to the Asian USSR, China, North Korea and Vietnam?
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Agonized-Statism
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« Reply #1 on: November 15, 2021, 07:57:20 PM »
« Edited: November 15, 2021, 08:04:57 PM by Anaphylactic-Statism »

Well, World War II being in living memory might have had something to do with it. A WWII veteran was president as late as the end of the Cold War. It was also in living memory for the rest of Asia- Japanese rearmament would have been a bad look for the capitalist bloc, especially when there was a propaganda war to win in Vietnam.
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Skill and Chance
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« Reply #2 on: November 15, 2021, 08:24:16 PM »

Well, World War II being in living memory might have had something to do with it. A WWII veteran was president as late as the end of the Cold War. It was also in living memory for the rest of Asia- Japanese rearmament would have been a bad look for the capitalist bloc, especially when there was a propaganda war to win in Vietnam.

This.  It was just too unpalatable.  However, the US would be better positioned today if we had done it. 
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Meclazine for Israel
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« Reply #3 on: November 16, 2021, 04:03:30 AM »
« Edited: November 17, 2021, 08:41:00 AM by Meclazine »

Because they were nut-jobs who were only stopped following a double nuclear attack.

Japan was a venomous setup in WW2.
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politicallefty
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« Reply #4 on: November 16, 2021, 05:09:02 AM »

It's unfortunate. I'm on the left, but I am a strong supporter of Japanese rearmament and remilitarization. Article 9 was a great statement against war, but not realistic. It needs to be repealed or amended.
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PSOL
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« Reply #5 on: November 16, 2021, 03:04:24 PM »

The fear of an independent Japan. Remember that when it was all but certain that the Cold War was coming to an end, the US government strong-armed the Japanese to kneecap themselves with the Plaza accords.
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FEMA Camp Administrator
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« Reply #6 on: November 16, 2021, 07:33:23 PM »

The anxiety was not limited to Japan either. The US--and, I assume, others--was made very nervous by the prospect of a reunified Germany.
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True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)
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« Reply #7 on: November 20, 2021, 02:25:07 AM »

Japan wasn't looking to expand its military and the idea of Japan and South Korea cooperating militarily in the 1950s was even more laughable than it is today. Moreover, it was South Korea, which had an actual land border to defend, that received primary focus in East Asia during the Cold War.

There was zero chance of the Japanese military operating outside Japan during the Cold War and everyone knew it.
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politicallefty
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« Reply #8 on: November 20, 2021, 05:58:02 AM »

The anxiety was not limited to Japan either. The US--and, I assume, others--was made very nervous by the prospect of a reunified Germany.

In terms of Japan, that sounds more like an issue with the economic growth of Japan during the latter years of the Cold War. From what I've read, the Japanese economy was supposedly on track to surpass the US economy. The general consensus was that Americans should learn Japanese. The Japanese economy took a significant downturn throughout the 90s and have had mostly stagnant growth since. However, Japan is still the 3rd largest economy in the world and a country that punches far above its weight.
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buritobr
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« Reply #9 on: November 20, 2021, 07:58:14 AM »

The anxiety was not limited to Japan either. The US--and, I assume, others--was made very nervous by the prospect of a reunified Germany.

George H W Bush was the first to accept a unified Germany.
François Mitterrand and Gorbatchev accept after that.
The leader who had the biggest resistence to a unified Germany was Margaret Thatcher.
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Obama-Biden Democrat
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« Reply #10 on: November 24, 2021, 08:05:27 PM »

The anxiety was not limited to Japan either. The US--and, I assume, others--was made very nervous by the prospect of a reunified Germany.

In terms of Japan, that sounds more like an issue with the economic growth of Japan during the latter years of the Cold War. From what I've read, the Japanese economy was supposedly on track to surpass the US economy. The general consensus was that Americans should learn Japanese. The Japanese economy took a significant downturn throughout the 90s and have had mostly stagnant growth since. However, Japan is still the 3rd largest economy in the world and a country that punches far above its weight.

Japan's stagnant economy in the 90's was also due to low birth rates. China is facing the same demographic problems Japan did in the 90s.
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politicallefty
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« Reply #11 on: November 28, 2021, 04:32:46 AM »

The anxiety was not limited to Japan either. The US--and, I assume, others--was made very nervous by the prospect of a reunified Germany.

In terms of Japan, that sounds more like an issue with the economic growth of Japan during the latter years of the Cold War. From what I've read, the Japanese economy was supposedly on track to surpass the US economy. The general consensus was that Americans should learn Japanese. The Japanese economy took a significant downturn throughout the 90s and have had mostly stagnant growth since. However, Japan is still the 3rd largest economy in the world and a country that punches far above its weight.

Japan's stagnant economy in the 90's was also due to low birth rates. China is facing the same demographic problems Japan did in the 90s.

That may be true, but the downturn in the Japanese economy coincided with the end of the Cold War. I haven't heard of anyone that says the two are related. Even now, Japan is quite secure as the 3rd largest economy in the world. The US and China are far ahead and Germany, the 4th largest economy, would have to grow almost 25% at the expense of Japan. When you look at the world's largest economies, the world order is barely changed since the early days of the Cold War, with the major changes being that China has replaced the Soviet Union and that Japan has grown massively.

Japan can be a powerhouse once again if Article 9 is repealed or amended. I think we need extraordinary measures to contain China and I think Japanese remilitarization is the most important start. I would argue for nuclear weapons in Japanese territory under US authority, if that is what the Japanese would like.
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