Certainly the most important bilateral relationship of the latter half of the 20th century into the early 21st is one of the most peculiar. Despite the disparity in size and population, the United States and Japan have been the anchor of relations in East Asia, and Asia more broadly, sometimes having a worldwide impact. It is odd, first of all, because of the huge disproportion in size and population between the two, to say nothing of social and cultural differences. It is also odd in that the United States was initially also much more dynamic economically and was actually willing to tolerate Japan’s rise to economic prominence through trade. But … Continue reading John Van Sant, Peter Mauch, Yoneyuki Sugita