World War II was far more global than World War I. This chapter describes the course of the war in three stages and point to some key themes in U.S. strategy and foreign policy as the nation fought the war and at the same time prepared for the peace. In the Western Hemisphere, Pearl Harbor was followed by another inter-American conference, this time held in Rio de Janeiro in January 1942, where the American republics agreed to break diplomatic ties with the Axis powers. The enemy countries' totalitarianism and militarism must be eradicated to ensure a stable peace, but their citizens should be treated leniently. Cultural internationalism was a luxury unless it was relevant to the war effort. The shape of the postwar world, in any event, would hinge on whether the two would be able to continue to work together after the Axis defeat.