Humanitarianism, Mercantilism, or Comprehensive Security? Disbursement Patterns of Japanese Foreign Aid

Abstract

In 1967, The American Challenge appeared on the best-seller list of popular books in Europe.' Written by French author Jean-Jacques S rvanSchreiber, it warned about the economic power and innovative capacity of U.S. firms and the danger that they posed to the political autonomy of West European countries. This concern with U.S. hegemony, however, seemed rather quickly displaced by events pointing to the rapid ascendance of Japan in international trade and finance. In 1979, barely a dozen years after the appearance of The American Challenge, Ezra Vogel published Japan as Number 1: Lessons for America.2 This book was followed by others with titles such as The Eastasia Edge,3 America Versus Japan,4 and Trading Places.5 Their authors expressed a combination of admiration for Japan's economic achievements and alarm over the escalating international tension resulting from the relative status adjustments (especially for the United States) implied by these achievements. Often American analysts emphasize the closed nature of Japan's society and economy and the relentless drive for foreign economic advantages by that country's government and corporate leaders. While erecting various formal and informal barriers for keeping foreign capital and goods out of their home islands, the Japanese have supposedly exploited to the fullest extent the easy accessibility of the American society and economy to obtain valuable technologies, market shares, and investment opportunities. Thus, their economic