Parallels Between Japan's Decision to Attack the United States in WWII and Contemporary U.S.-China Relations

World War II reshaped the world order, and U.S. involvement in that war was the result of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Recently, China has been expanding its sphere of influence and pushing against that of the United States. This thesis analyzes the U.S.Japanese relationship prior to World War II, focusing on Japanese militarism, economic tensions, and racism and mistrust in order to examine the current relationship between China and the United States and to determine the likelihood of another war. However, where Japan was accustomed to using military force to achieve its political and economic objectives, China is not. Rather, as the Chinese economy is interconnected with that of its rivals, China has sought to expand its influence through economic means, making the possibility of another large-scale war less likely than it was with Japan.