Cultures of antimilitarism

Both Japan and Germany have had long traditions of militarism, culminating in the two countries' aggressive actions in World War II. Today, after suffering crushing military defeats in 1945, both countries have again achieved positions of economic dominance and political influence. Yet neither seeks to regain its former military power.

On the contrary, antimilitarism has become so deeply rooted in the Japanese and German national psyches that even such issues as participation in international peacekeeping forces are met with widespread domestic opposition. How, asks political scientist Thomas Berger, did such a radical change in thought and behavior come about?

In Cultures of Antimilitarism: National Security in Germany and Japan, Berger analyzes the complex domestic and international political forces that brought about this unforeseen transformation. He shows how the postwar governments of Konrad Adenauer and Yoshida Shigeru - both moderate, right-of-center politicians - succeeded in reaching beyond their own constituencies to help their countrymen craft new national identities.