Jim Grisanzio

Here’s an excellent article from Karel Van Wolferen about some important history between the United States, Japan, and Europe: Japan, Europe and The Dangerous Fantasy of American Leadership. Wolferen terms the relationship between the US and Japan as pathological, which is obvious to anyone looking at it in detail. Most concerning is the notion that because Japan has weak leadership and is dependent on the US, Japanese officials are missing the dramatic changes taking place in America and that will undermine the interests of not only the government in Japan but more importantly the Japanese people.

Now, many times historians and journalists focus on governments in international relations and forget the people affected in the process. Karel Van Wolferen does not make this mistake. His article is a clear warning for the Japanese people as they look to a future with — or without — the US. What happens if this pathological relationship fractures? What happens if it continues along its current path? Wolferen argues the financial/military complex in the US is no longer under the control of civilian leadership, which is a scary statement itself and in some ways parallels the state of Japan before World War II. To make matters even more disconcerting, there is another line of thinking about trends in the US, such as statements from Noam Chomsky that the US in some ways now reminds him of late Weimar Germany. Either way things can potentially get somewhat troublesome for the Japanese people who are used to decades of living under American influence. Website: Karel Van Wolferen.

Image: Kamakura Daibutsu, Japan, 2007