ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the overall foreign policy orientation of the United States toward shaping Japan, as the first prong of a capitalist market economy, to accommodate US long-term modification of Japan—eradication of the communist threat by peaceful economic means. Japan’s internationalization process, its position in the international economy in general and in General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in particular, was subject to conflicting opinions. Japan was greatly strengthened by its incorporation into GATT, the largest world trade organization. The American market functioning as a liberalization agent, argued Don Bonker, “provided Japanese industry an ample market for a wide range of products”. Economic interdependence and security alliance are the two major loci of US-Japan relations after the cold war. US-Japan cooperation in military research and development and the stationing of US troops in Japan are de facto the most salient form of cooperation.
