An Alliance in Distress Essay -- Foreign Policy

It is almost too hard to fathom that only 70 years ago the United States possessed such strong feelings of hatred and fear towards Japan in the wake of the devastating Pearl Harbor attacks. The federal government even went as far as to unjustly imprison 110,000 Japanese-Americans. Also, the Japanese felt much animosity and held an inhumane view of Americans following their surrender in WWII after two U.S. atomic bombs killed an estimated 240,000 people. However, from the midst of this painful and dark history has risen one of the most peaceful and powerful alliances of the twenty-first century. The United States rose to be a political superpower with the most technologically advanced military and largest economy in the world. Japan also rose to be a technological superpower with the second largest economy in the world, although it was recently surpassed by China in late 2010. The mutual growth of the two countries stemmed from the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security (TMCS) betw een the United States and Japan that was signed on January 19,1960. The TMCS helped foster the mutual and prosperous trade between the two countries, while also setting forth an agreement of security assistance to one another in times of conflict. As a result of the treaty, the U.S. was allowed by Japan to place bases on various islands, but primarily on the island of Okinawa for strategic purposes and to aid in the defense of Japan. Over fifty years have passed since this agreement was made by the two nations and now an international debate has risen over complications with this arrangement to a magnitude so large that Japanese citizens now even question the merits of the overall U.S.-Japan alliance. The main question that now stands between the Japan... ...ates. Congress. House. Committee on Armed Services. Japan†¯: Recent Security Developments†¯: Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, Second Session, Hearing Held July 27, 2010. Washington: U.S. G.P.O.†¯:, 2010. Print. United States. Congress. House. Committee on Foreign Affairs. Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment. U.S.-Japan Relations [microform]†¯: Enduring Ties, Recent Developments†¯: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, Second Session, March 17, 2010. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 2010. Print. Sato, Ikenberry, G. John, and Yoichiro Inoguchi, Takashi. U.S.-Japan Security Alliance: Regional Multilateralism. Gordonsville, VA, USA: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Print.