Popular culture, US security policy, and the Asian pivot: reading Pacific Rim as a justification of American strategic involvement in the Asia-Pacific region

Abstract

This article takes a narratological perspective to illustrate how the 2013 movie Pacific Rim portrays the role of the United States in world politics as a security provider through the use of military force. The movie depicts new interpretations of old ideas and emphasizes the cooperation of Pacific nations under American leadership. Its distribution follows the shift of strategic focus by the United States onto Asia and highlights the preeminent role of the military in responding to emergent threats. The soldier, as a heroic guarantor of security, is presented as the backbone for the protection of liberty. Global cooperation under US leadership is presented as a requirement for global security. Therefore, as a cultural product, Pacific Rim provides an interpretation of the strategic worldviews of the United States that is highly supportive of existing policy decisions.

Keywords:

• popular culture
• US security policy
• Asia-Pacific
• strategic narratives

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jan Hanska

Jan Hanska is a Doctor of Social Sciences from the University of Tampere. He works as a general staff officer in the Finnish Defence Forces (Army) and is currently posted to the Finnish Defence Research Institute. He wrote his dissertation in International Relations focusing on narrative interpretations of American politics during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. His book Reagan’s Mythical America – Storytelling as Political Leadership was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2012. His research interests include classical military strategy and operational art, US presidential politics and political leadership, narratology, strategic communication, US foreign policy, and political theology. Currently he is working on two book manuscripts: one on the changing faces of US enemy images and the other on US presidential leadership.