From Pearl Harbor to the “Asian Pivot”: Contours of us Imperialism in the Pacific

Abstract

This article explores the long trajectory of United States imperial strategy in the Pacific, spanning the first conquest of Hawaii in the 1890s through the naval buildup, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the protracted war of annihilation against Japan that followed, American establishment of its postwar hegemony over Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and other parts of Asia, to the present-day “Asian Pivot” (including the Trans-Pacific Partnership) linking 12 nations in trade relations with efforts to contain the Chinese economic juggernaut. I argue that this will become a centerpiece of global politics heading into the future.