Book Review: United States: America Encounters Japan, Peace-Making and the Settlement with Japan
| Published date | 01 December 1964 |
| Date | 01 December 1964 |
| Author | Paul A. Varg |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206401900422 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
572
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
the
challenge
of
Marxism,
the
author
rejects
both
historic
realism
and
Wilsonian utopianism without
uncovering
any
workable
compromise
between
them.
Others have
conducted
the
search
with
no
greater
suc-
cess,
and
with
good
reason.
Wilsonism
could
never
do,
more
than
place
the
seal
of
approval
on
the
status
quo:
it
was rejected
by
all
populations
whose
interests
were
not fully
satisfied
by
the
Versailles
Treaty.
Only
through
example
or
the
overthrowing
of
governments
by
force
can
one
nation
influence
the
internal
politics
of
another.
It
may
be
true,
as
the
author
suggests,
that
American
liberalism
has
more
to
offer
the
world
than
Soviet
communism,
but
both systems
evolved
under
specific
en-
vironmental
and
historic
conditions.
Neither
can
be
repeated
elsewhere.
A
nation,
history
has
illustrated,
can
really
achieve
no
more
than
the
defence
of
its
own
clearly-perceived
interests,
and
the
U.S.S.R.,
despite
all
its
claims
on
the
future,
has
accomplished no
more
than
this.
That
the
perennial
search
for
a
national
purpose
within
the
context
of
Western
liberalism
has
proved
illusive
suggests
that
such
a
purpose
might
be
unavailable.
One
might
criticize
American
policy
for
attempt-
ing
too
much
rather
than
too
little,
and
Professor
Seabury
himself,
on
many
occasions,
seems
to
arrive
at
this
very
conclusion.
University
of
Illinois
NORMAN
A.
GRAEBNER
AMERICA
ENCOUNTERS
JAPAN.
From
Perry
to
MacArthur.
By
William
L.
Neumann.
1963.
(Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins.
Toronto:
Copp
Clark.
viii,
253pp.
$6.50)
PEACE-MAKING
AND
THE
SETTLEMENT
WITH
JAPAN.
By
Frederick
S.
Dunn.
1963.
(Princeton:
Princeton
University
Press.
Toronto:
S.
J.
Reginald Saunders.
xviii,
210pp.
$5.00)
Professor
William
L.
Neumann
presents
an
intriguing
thesis.
He
places
great
emphasis
on
Commodore
Perry's
threat
to
use
force,
a
fact,
which
though
generally
recognized,
he
deems
worthy
of
calling
to
the
attention
of his
readers.
Approaching
the
1890's
the
author
discusses
the
development
of
an
exaggerated
American
nationalism
that
expresses
itself
in
an
assertive
manner
as
regards
the
Far
East.
This
nationalism
does
not veer
strongly
against
Japan
until
well
after
the
Russo-Japanese
War
and
does
not reach its
full
stride
until
the
Taft
and
Wilson
adminis-
trations.
After
1912
a
highly
unrealistic
stereotype
dominates
the
thinking
of
American
policy
makers.
This
stereotype
rests
upon
a
sentimental
view
of
China,
an
unwarranted
assumption
that
Japan
poses
a
serious danger
to
the
United
States,
and
the
illusion
that
the
United
States
has
the
duty
to
enforce
law
and
order.
The
1920's
provided
a
brief respite
from
this
fear.
The
improved
relations
were
due
to
the
Washington
Conference,
the
greater
concern
on
the
part
of
Americans
with the
domestic
scene,
and
the
temporary
disillusionment
with
China
as
civil
war
reigned and
a
strong
anti-
foreignism
challenged
the
privileged position
of
westerners.
This
im-
provement
in
relations
ended
with Henry
Stimson's
appointment
as
Secretary
of
State.
Again
the
United
States
assumed
a
moralistic
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