Cold War Democracy: The United States and Japan

Has American foreign policy been a reflection of a desire to promote democracy, or a simple product of hard-nosed geopolitics? In this talk, Jennifer Miller argues that democratic ideals were crucial, but not in the way most defenders claim. Focusing on the postwar occupation of Japan, she examines how the Cold War produced a new understanding of democracy as rooted in psychologies and mentalities. This vision motivated American efforts to democratize postwar Japan, yet also facilitated America’s rapprochement with the political and military leaders that once led Japan’s brutal war. 

Jennifer M. Miller is an Assistant Professor of History at Dartmouth College.  She received her MA and PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her BA from Wesleyan University.  A scholar of U.S.-East Asian relations, she is the author of Cold War Democracy: The United States and Japan (Harvard University Press, 2019).  Her other recent publications include “Let’s Not Be Laughed at Anymore: Donald Trump and Japan from the 1980s to the Present” (Journal of American-East Asian Relations, 2018) and “Fractured Alliance: Anti-Base Protests and Postwar U.S.-Japanese Relations” (Diplomatic History, 2014).

The Washington History Seminar is co-chaired by Eric Arnesen (George Washington University) and Christian Ostermann (Woodrow Wilson Center) and is sponsored jointly by the National History Center of the American Historical Association and the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program. It meets weekly during the academic year. The seminar thanks the Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest and the George Washington University History Department for their support.