Hostname: page-component-55f67697df-sqlfs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-08T20:38:35.259Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Notes From Ground Zero: Power, Equity and Postwar Reconstruction in Two Eras

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2025

Mark Selden
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

President George W. Bush has repeatedly presented the American occupation of Japan as the model for Iraq's democratization. Does the Japanese occupation really illuminate contemporary reconstructions in Iraq, Afghanistan and other contemporary war-torn societies? Certain similarities do stand out: as in Japan half a century earlier, the U.S. has proclaimed its intention to return “sovereignty” to a democratic Iraq and assure a democratic transition in Afghanistan while preserving a dominant American military presence in both the Middle East and Central Asia. Yet beyond this obvious similarity lie profound differences in American strategy, goals and commitments, as well as in the nations and peoples it seeks to “reconstruct” and the problems encountered in the two regions and two eras.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 2 , Issue 1 , January 2004 , e2
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2004

References

Principal Sources

Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, Assessing subnational administration in Afghanistan: Early observations and recommendations for action. March 13, 2003.Google Scholar
Bennis, Phyllis et al, “Paying the Price: The Mounting Costs of the Iraq War,” June 24, 2004. http://www.ips.dc.org/iraq/costsofwar.pdfGoogle Scholar
Bossin, Yuri V., “The Afghan Experience with International Assistance,” in Montgomery, John D. and Rondinelli, Dennis A., eds., Beyond Reconstruction in Afghanistan. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2004, 75–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dobbins, James, McGinn, John G., Crane, Keith, Jones, Seth G., Rollie, Lal, Rathmell, Andrew, Swanger, Rachel, and Timilsina, Anga, America's Role in Nation Building: From Germany to Iraq. Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation, 2003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dower, John W., Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II. New York: Norton/The New Press, 1999.Google Scholar
Dower, John W., “Remaking History: Bush's comparison of Iraq with postwar Japan ignores the facts,” Los Angeles Times December 8, 2003.Google Scholar
Graham, Bradley, “U.S. May Halve Forces in Germany. Shift in Europe, Asia Is Aimed at Faster Deployment. Washington Post, March 25, 2004.Google Scholar
Herman, Edward, “The United States as Torture Central: U.S. Sponsors Regimes Using Torture Extensively,” Z Magazine, Vol 17, 5, May 2004.Google Scholar
Johnson, Chalmers, the Sorrows of Empire. Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2004.Google Scholar
Lobe, Jim, “Donor Delay Spells Doom for Afghanistan,” Asia Times, September 20, 2003.Google Scholar
Sedra, Mark, “Afghanistan: Donor Inaction and Ineffectiveness,” Foreign Policy in Focus, October 14, 2004.Google Scholar
Selden, Mark and So, Alvin, eds., War and State Terrorism: The United States, Japan and the Asia-Pacific in the Long Twentieth Century. Lanham MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003.Google Scholar
Eiji, Takemae, Inside GHQ: The Allied Occupation of Japan and Its Legacy. Translated and adapted by Ricketts, Robert and Swann, Sebastian. London: Continuum, 2002.Google Scholar
Turton, David and Marsden, Peter, Taking Afghanistan Refugees for a Ride? The Politics of refugee return to Afghanistan. Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, December 2002.Google Scholar
Wily, Liz Alden, Land and the Constitution. Current Land Issues in Afghanistan. Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, August, 2003.Google Scholar
Wily, Liz Alden, Land Rights in Crisis: Restoring Tenure Security in Afghanistan. Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, March, 2003.Google Scholar
Working Group [U.S. Department of Defense], “Report on Detainee Interrogations in the Global War on Terrorism: Assessment of Legal, historical and Operational Considerations,” March 6, 2003. Wall Street Journal online, June 9, 2004. http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/military_0604.pdfGoogle Scholar