Foreign Relations in His Highly Term Paper

However, Dower goes beyond just tracing the foundation of racism between the United States and Japan during the Pacific War and also examines how this racial hatred was easily overcome during the post-war years. Dower points out that after the war, an amicable postwar relationship was created between the United States and Japan, one in which has continued to the present day. According to Dower, the same stereotypes that fed the super-patriotism and racial hatred that fueled the conflict were at the same time surprisingly adaptable to means of cooperation during times of peace.

For example, following the war Japan developed into an economic superpower and thus was a competitive player in the war of economics. The war of economics is essentially one vs. The Western superpowers and the developing East. In a business sense, Japan was seen as an economic enemy, or threat. Much of this vision was based on the same stereotypes that led to the war of the Pacific. However, when applied to a purely business and economic framework, these stereotypes, held by both sides, actually help fuel competition and global trade and development, thus allowing both sides to essentially win. Thus, in a 1984 poll taken of Australian business executives, over eighty-four percent of them states that they viewed Japan and their Japanese business counterparts as being "untrustworthy and devious." In other words, the same stereotypes that existed during the war remained in the post-war economic wars but instead of fueling hatred, fueled a competition that ultimately proved healthy for all sides of the "war."

As can be seen from the thorough examination of the topic given by Dower's book War without Mercy, the fundamental principle that drove the United States and Japan to a lengthy war with each other was an underlying current of racism and hatred. However, after the war, although these stereotypes did not disappear, they were used as an inspiration to battle each other in an economic sense, thus fueling an economic boom that ultimately benefited all players involved in the new global market.

Bibliography

Dower, John W. (1987): War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War. New York: Knopf….....