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Volume 82 – No. 3

Co-Prosperity Sphere Again? United States Foreign Policy and Japan’s “First” Regionalism in the 1950s

Hiroyuki Hoshiro

DOI: 10.5509/2009823385

  • English Abstract
  • French Abstract

 

Why are there no legally constituted institutions in the Asia-Pacific? Some analysts have argued that this situation is a result of US foreign policy, which promoted bilateralism in Asia in order to ensure its dominance in the aftermath of World War II. Focusing on Japan’s first regionalism during the 1950s, this article aims to show that this line of argument should be modified. A close analysis of US foreign policy in the region during this period reveals that, rather than attempting to contain Asian regionalism, infl uential US policy makers repeatedly pursued it. This pursuit gave impetus to Japan’s attempts to revive its regional agenda, which during the war had taken form as the “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere” and which now seemed possible in a different form, most notably in gaining financial support from the United States, Japan’s former wartime enemy. However, at this particular juncture in history, the diversity of South and Southeast Asian countries and their nationbuilding priorities inhibited regional economic cooperation. A “pan-Asian-feeling” did not exist. Rather, mutual suspicion of each other’s motives and ambitions, and various political rivalries and antagonisms, collectively prevented cooperation between countries in the region. Such different political regimes made it diffi cult, if not impossible, to establish a multilateral institution. These obstacles led the US to abandon multilateralism in favour of bilateralism as its preferred strategy in the Asia-Pacific until the end of the 1980s.

Une nouvelle sphère de co-prospérité? La politique érangère des États-unis et la “première vague” de régionalisme du Japon dans les années 50

Pourpuoi n’existe-t-il pas d’institutions légalement constituées dans l’Asie du Pacifique? Certains analystes politiqes ont soutenu qu’un tel fait est le résultat de la politique étrangère des Etats-unis après la deuxième guerre mondiale, qui encouragea le bilatéralisme en Asie afin d’assurer son hégémonie. Cet article a pour but de démontrer qu’une telle posture devrait être modifée en se ciblant sur la première vague de régionalisme japonais pendant les années 50. Une analyse minutieuse sur la politique étrangère des Etats-unis pendant cette période révèle qu’au lieu de tenter de contenir le régionalisme asiatique, d’influents responsables politiques américains poursuivirent à maintes reprises ce programme. Une telle posture donna au Japon l’impétus de persévérer à faire renaître son programme régional, qui prit la forme de “sphère de co-prospérité” dans la Grande Asie de l’Est, et qui semble maintenant réalisable sous une autre forme, plus particulièrement avec le soutien financier des États-unis, son ancien ennemi de guerre. A ce point précis dans l’histoire, la diversité des pays du Sud et du Sud-Est asiatiques avec leurs consolidations nationales et leurs priorités entravent cependant la coopération économique régionale. Par ailleurs, un “sentiment panasiatique” n’existait pas. Á sa place, une méfiance mutuelle sur leurs mobiles et leurs ambitions respectives firent surface, ainsi que sur leurs diverses rivalités politiques et leurs antagonismes et empêchèrent toute coopération entre les différents pays de la région.

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