- 15 Aug 2016 03:22
#14710445
In August 1945, Truman forced Japan to surrender by dropping two atomic bombs, the first on Hiroshima, and the second, three days later on Nagasaki. The question of whether these actions were really a prerequisite for that surrender continues to be debated to this day.
But there is a very strong argument for the assertion that Japan would have been willing to surrender months earlier if they had properly understood what the American government had meant, and had not meant, by the term ‘total surrender’, as expressed at the Casablanca conference of 1943. This argument asserts that the massive differences between Roosevelt’s intentions in his use of that phrase and the Japanese interpretation thereof prevented any chance of an earlier surrender.
While I don’t have a conclusive view one way or the other on the correctness of this thesis, the discussion reinforces for me the absolutely critical role of an informed and sensitive awareness of cultural differences in the practice of international diplomacy. If the above suggested failure in diplomacy were to happen in our present time, between nuclear-armed nations, the victims would not be limited to the populations of two cities. The ensuing nuclear winter would be indescribably worse than the harsh post-war winters in Europe and Japan.
Russian military activity in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Chinese military activity in international waters in the South China Sea.
Can anyone truly believe that Mr. Trump is suited to be America’s spokesman, mediator and negotiator on the world stage?
Is there anyone who is not terrified by the idea of Mr. Trump as Commander-in-Chief of America’s armed forces?
“I was only joking” is not now, and never will be, appropriate in international diplomacy. Knee-jerk reactions from the man who has his unilateral finger on the nuclear trigger have (until now) been unthinkable.
Mr. Trump, you are a talented and capable man. You know your strengths and your weaknesses. Please take to heart the many criticisms which have been levelled at you – they may not be well-meant or well-intended, but they could be well-taken and well-applied. Do what you do best (and leave the White House to someone else).
By the way, did you hear that Donald Trump has accepted a position with the White House orchestra? He’s going to play the buffoon.
But there is a very strong argument for the assertion that Japan would have been willing to surrender months earlier if they had properly understood what the American government had meant, and had not meant, by the term ‘total surrender’, as expressed at the Casablanca conference of 1943. This argument asserts that the massive differences between Roosevelt’s intentions in his use of that phrase and the Japanese interpretation thereof prevented any chance of an earlier surrender.
While I don’t have a conclusive view one way or the other on the correctness of this thesis, the discussion reinforces for me the absolutely critical role of an informed and sensitive awareness of cultural differences in the practice of international diplomacy. If the above suggested failure in diplomacy were to happen in our present time, between nuclear-armed nations, the victims would not be limited to the populations of two cities. The ensuing nuclear winter would be indescribably worse than the harsh post-war winters in Europe and Japan.
Russian military activity in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Chinese military activity in international waters in the South China Sea.
Can anyone truly believe that Mr. Trump is suited to be America’s spokesman, mediator and negotiator on the world stage?
Is there anyone who is not terrified by the idea of Mr. Trump as Commander-in-Chief of America’s armed forces?
“I was only joking” is not now, and never will be, appropriate in international diplomacy. Knee-jerk reactions from the man who has his unilateral finger on the nuclear trigger have (until now) been unthinkable.
Mr. Trump, you are a talented and capable man. You know your strengths and your weaknesses. Please take to heart the many criticisms which have been levelled at you – they may not be well-meant or well-intended, but they could be well-taken and well-applied. Do what you do best (and leave the White House to someone else).
By the way, did you hear that Donald Trump has accepted a position with the White House orchestra? He’s going to play the buffoon.
- By Deutschmania
- By FiveofSwords
- By QatzelOk