The coming of the Great War had little or nothing directly to do with the United States. One consequence of the growing importance of the American question in the European war was the need to persuade the Americans themselves of this fact, that is, to make them realize that, despite their official neutrality and widespread aversion to becoming involved in the conflict, they were in fact playing an increasingly vital role in it and that their actions even as nonbelligerents would have serious implications for the outcome of the struggle. The United States had prepared itself economically and intellectually for a crucial role in the European conflict. In the meantime, as the United States was preparing itself for an ultimate involvement in the European war, it was pursuing active, interventionist policies in East Asia and the Caribbean, something of a rehearsal for what was to come in Europe.