American Policy Toward Pacific Dependencies

Emerson, Rupert (September 1947). "American Policy Toward Pacific Dependencies". Pacific Affairs. JSTOR. 20 (3): 259. doi:10.2307/2752161. ISSN 0030-851X.

Abstract: T HE UNITED STATES confronts an exceedingly challenging situation in its concern with the problem of Pacific dependencies. Here, perhaps more than anywhere else in the world, American traditions threaten to come into conflict with the temptations and the realities of power politics on the grand scale. There are basic choices to make which cannot fail to have a major influence on the way in which the world turns and on the world forces with which the United States aligns itself and to which it opposes itself. The choices are not easy, nor is it possible to predict the outcome of one choice or another with certainty. Many of the forces to be dealt with are obscure, and the decisions which will be taken will both reflect the American estimate as to how the world is going to shape itself in the postwar era and throw a perhaps decisive weight on one side or another of the scale. Under these circumstances it must be recognized that there are risks in any policy which the United States may adopt, and that the risks of inaction are frequently as great as those of action. Realistically faced, the problem becomes one not of avoiding risks, which is impossible, but of making them as far as possible calculated risks, the end result of which will be to enhance the chances of peace in the world, the position of the United States, and the principles for which it stands. For the great mass of the American people these principles center about the advancement of democratic self-government, the raising of standards of living, and the maintenance of world peace. An American policy based on American economic, political, strategic and humanitarian interests would in some of its aspects be applicable to all types of dependent areas, whether…

Extra details:

MAG: 2327206151
OpenAlex: W2327206151