In this text, Aaron Forsberg presents an account of Japan's postwar economic resurgence in a world polarized by the Cold War. His interpretation highlights the many connections between Japan's economic revival and changes that occurred in the wider world during the 1950s. Drawing on a wealth of released American, British and Japanese archival records, Forsberg demonstrates that American Cold war strategy and the US commitment to liberal rtade played a central role in promoting Japanese economic welfare and in forging the economic relationship between Japan and the United States. The price of economic opportunity and interdependence, however, was a strong undercurrent of mutual frustration, as patterns of conflict and compromise over trade, investment and relations with China continued to characterize the postwar US-Japanese relationship. Forsberg's emphasis on the dynamic interaction of Cold War strategy, the business environement, and Japanese development challenges "revisionist" interpretations of Japan's success.
In exploring the complex origins of the US-led international economy that has outlasted the Cold War, Forsberg refutes the claim that the US government sacrificed American commercial interests in favour of its military partnership with Japan.