Strained alliance: US-Japan diplomacy in the Asian financial crisis

Abstract

Japan's clumsy diplomatic performance during the 1991 Gulf War precipitated a series of efforts to raise Tokyo's defence profile and upgrade the US-Japan alliance. However, bitter exchanges between the US and Japan in the face of the Asian financial crisis indicate that little progress has been made in bilateral relations. As the crisis deepened, Washington and Tokyo adopted sharply contrasting approaches to managing the turbulence; the result was severe tensions between the two capitals. In American eyes, Japan was once again proving itself incapable of exercising credible leadership. From Japan's perspective, Washington was once again behaving like an unappreciative bully. On the cusp of the twenty-first century, allied tensions during the financial crisis indicate a steady erosion of purpose in the US-Japan relationship.