Brotherhood of Nations:  Bonds Across the Pacific

 9/5/2009

By Spencer Zielinski

With Jodie Nicotra as Mentor

 Background:

Four years ago, while I was working as a military air marshal, I was sent on a mission to Japan.  During the few days that I spent just outside of Tokyo I had feelings of nostalgia wash over me.  It reminded me of one of my best friends, from my first military duty station whom I had met in 2001, that introduced me to many Japanese exports I’d never encountered before.  Seeing the land and culture of Japanese society was a catalyst that helped forge the notion that I wanted to leave the world of law enforcement and move towards a more genteel occupation in international politics. 

The mission I was charged with conducting, in Japan, was to secure the Under Secretary of State’s aircraft and transportation.  I observed how the many “staffers” plowed through their work and they seemed to find satisfaction and a sense of higher meaning as they compiled reports and made contact with the foreign diplomats.  I realized then that one of the paths I’d like to take in life would be the same one that many of those State Department employees were walking in life.

So my main questions, as they relate to the project I plan to wade through, is what came about from those State Department missions to Japan?  What sort of impact has American policy had on our contact with Japanese culture and ideas?  When our cultures combine, and interact, how do both societies reflect on those works?  And how does my life’s experience tie together with the written documents outlining our two nations bonds?

Current Project:

            For this project I will be looking at the first meeting of our nations, and conducting rhetorical and critical analysis of the trade, security and political treaties which have bound America and Japan together.  My focus on the history of Japanese-American relations will be brief, but I will include enough background that it covers from the time of Admiral Perry’s first contact thru the present, but it will be highly abbreviated, maxing out with only 2 to 3 pages of information which should be sufficient to give the audience a grasp of how the relationship was forged and changed by the most major of events.  I will use current written policies as the primary focus of the rest of the paper, detailing what America’s current stance with Japan is, focusing on the areas that most impact individuals in our two modern societies.  Through out the piece I plan to add my own inflection and personal experiences that were derived from the policies we have in place and using that information to imply deeper meaning to the documents that have international bearing on the two nations.  In my analysis of the written documents I hope to build an understanding of how the English language is used to establish doctrine between nations, and in which ways terms and words are used to make policy.

Goals:

            Through this semester I plan to gain insight into the career field I wish to apply myself toward.  I will absorb the manner in which political documents are drafted and try to better understand the underlying meanings beyond the typed words.  After graduation I hope that this project will be a tool that I can use to propel me forward into an occupation I truly enjoy.

Presentation:

            When I give this as an oral presentation I plan to show how government policies affect the every-day citizens of our two nations.  By highlighting the biggest areas of trade and culture that we share, I hope to make the distinction of how politics influenced the sharing of ideas and resources between two nations very clear. By including the inflections of my own views upon the way in which doctrine is written that involves both Japan and America I hope to broaden the audience’s understanding of the impact foreign policy has on them as individuals.  I will discuss my analytical methods, giving a foundation and credibility to my perspective.  My thoughts are that this will not only build on my own knowledge, but it can be an intriguing digression into a culture that many people are ignorant to.

Tentative Bibliography:

1) "San Francisco Peace Treaty." Taiwan Documents. 08 SEP 1951. The Allied Powers and Japan , Web. 14 Sep 2009. <http://www.taiwandocuments.org/sanfrancisco01.htm>.

2) Perry, Matthew Calbraith. Narrative of the expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan, 1856. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1856.

3) Cullen, Louis M. A history of Japan 1582-1941: internal and external worlds Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

4) Treaty Herter, Christian A., Douglas MacArthur 2nd, and J. Graham Parsons. "Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between Japan and the United States of America." Wikisource. 19 Jan 1960. United States of America, Web. 14 Sep 2009. <http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Mutual_Cooperation_and_Security_between_Japan_and_the_United_States_of_America>.

5) "Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change." United Nations. (1998): Print.

6) "Japan." US State Department. Mar 2009. US State Department, Web. 14 Sep 2009. <http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/4142.htm>.

7) Blanchfield, Luisa, Rhoda Margesson, Clare Ribando Seelke, Tiaji Salaam-Blyther, and Nina M. Serafino. "International Violence Against Women: U.S. Response and Policy Issues." CRS Report for Congress. (2008): Print.

8) Chanlett-Avery, Emma, ark E. Manyin, and William H. Cooper. "Japan-U.S. Relations: Issues for Congress." CRS Report for Congress. (2006): Print.

9) Bosworth, Stephen W. "Morning Walkthrough in Tokyo, Japan." US State Department. 8 Sep 2009. US State Department, Web. 14 Sep 2009. <http://www.state.gov/p/eap/rls/rm/2009/09/128686.htm>.

10) Herndl-Miller, Carl G., Barbara A. Fennell, and Carolyn R. Miller. "The Accident at Three Mile Island and the Shuttle Challenger Disaster ." Understanding Failures in Organizational Discourse. 279-305.

11) Koumura, Masahiko. "Defense: Shallow Water Acoustic Technology (SWAT) Program." Agreement Between the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and JAPAN. (1999): Print.

12) Foley, Thomas S. "Japan Defense." Agreement Between the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and JAPAN. (1999): Print.