THE LEGACY OF THE PACIFIC WAR: 75 YEARS LATER

THE LEGACY OF THE PACIFIC WAR: 75 YEARS LATER

August 14, 2020

Japanese surrender on August 15, 1945 brought an end to World War II in the Pacific theater and with it, the emergence of the United States as a Pacific power. Over the past 75 years, the outcome of the Pacific War still pervades in defining diplomatic, security, economic, and social ties within Asia, and U.S. relations with countries across the region. In fact, the memory of war has actually led to increased tensions in Asia at a time when there is growing competition and potential conflict among powers, large and small. In reflecting on how the Pacific War continues to influence competition and geopolitics in the region, the Wilson Center’s Asia Program has brought together a collection of essays as well as video interviews from select analysts and former policymakers from the United States and across Asia.

READ THE INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES FROM WILSON CENTER PRESIDENT JANE HARMAN

“Through these perspectives, a complex context emerges in which the United States again finds itself competing with great powers that seek to re-write the international balance of power. Remembering the hard-won lessons from World War II, including differences of opinion with our competitors over the lessons learned, will be critical to successful American foreign and military policy in the next decade.”

WATCH THE VIDEOS

VIDEO – GREAT POWER COMPETITION – The Past and Future of American Power in Asia

VIDEO – HISTORY – Japan and the Postwar Order

VIDEO – HISTORY – The Evolution of Technology and Military Strategy in Asia

READ THE ESSAYS

• Trauma and Triumph: U.S.-China Relations and Memories of the War in the Pacific
• The Promise and Perils of Historical Analogy: What the Pacific War Can, and Cannot, Tell Us About Asia Today
• Reevaluating Japan’s Economic Vision and Its Post-War Legacy
• The Pacific War’s Lessons for the Continued Strategic Importance of Oceania
• The Legacy of the Philippine Struggle for Independence in 1945
• Southeast Asia’s Pacific War
• The Legacy of 1945 for Equality and Women’s Leadership in Asia
• World War II in the Pacific and the Impact on the U.S. Navy
• The Three Enduring Legacies of the Pacific War in East Asia
• Clash of Memories and Clash of Dreams: The Legacy of the Pacific War and the Future of the East Asian Peace

CONTRIBUTORS

Rear Admiral Samuel J. Cox, U.S. Navy (Retired)

Director of the Naval History and Heritage Command and Curator of the Navy

CONTRIBUTORS

FEATURED

Robert Daly

Director, Kissinger Institute on China and the United States

Abraham Denmark

Director, Asia Program

Shihoko Goto

Deputy Director for Geoeconomics and Senior Associate for Northeast Asia, Asia Program

Lucas Myers

Program Associate, Asia Program

Toshihiro Nakayama

Japan Fellow;
Professor, Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University, Japan; Adjunct Fellow, Japan Institute of International Affairs

Diana Villiers Negroponte

Public Policy Fellow;
Adjunct Professor, The George Washington University

Joseph S. Nye, Jr

Former Fellow;
Author, American political scientist, and former Dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Marvin Ott

Asia Fellow;
Adjunct Professor, Johns Hopkins University; Former Professor of National Security Policy, National War College and Deputy Staff Director, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

Cheol-hee Park

Professor, Seoul National University

Dr. Kenneth Pyle

Professor Emeritus, University of Washington  

Martin Sherwin

Public Policy Fellow;
University Professor of History, George Mason University

Gwen K. Young

Distinguished Fellow

Zheng Wang

Global Fellow;
Professor, School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University

The Honorable Robert O. Work

Former Deputy Secretary of Defense