Hal M. Friedman

Hal M. Friedman is a professor of modern history at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn, Michigan. In addition to writing many articles and book reviews, he has published well-researched and ...

Governing the American Lake
The US Defense and Administration of the Pacific, 1945–1947

Hal M. Friedman

In this carefully crafted and meticulously researched book, Hal M. Friedman contends that US fears after World War II led the nation into military domination of the Pacific Ocean, turning it into an "American lake" in the hope of keeping the mainland safe from attack. According to Friedman, with the country still reeling from a bad case of "Pearl Harbor Syndrome," four departments of the Executive Branch —War, Navy, State, and Interior— succeeded in creating a new US strategic sphere in the Pacific Basin. However, while the departments agreed on the goal, there were many arguments about the means of reaching it. Friedman recounts disagreements about the best ways to secure the Basin against potential enemies, particularly a resurgent Japan and a hostile Soviet Union.

With the United States unofficially claiming jurisdiction over a vast ocean and all of its human occupants, there were titanic clashes of opinion about how to exercise this newly-declared power. Working from primary sources, including declassified materials, Friedman describes the many conflicts between military and civilian services in the period immediately following the war. He provides an indepth analysis of the policies that were thrashed out, often after intense interdepartmental infighting, to turn the Pacific into an American lake. In addition, he investigates the civil administration of Guam and American Samoa, along with the governing of the islands of Micronesia and the Ryukyus, which were formerly occupied by the Japanese.

While a few scholars have studied post-war American imperialism, only Friedman has investigated the bureaucracy of policymaking and its consequences on Pacific islands and peoples with this much detail. Not only does Friedman examine the bureaucratic history, but he also illuminates the equally important impacts of Americanization that accompanied the imposition of US ideas about government, economics, and culture far beyond mainland America. This is a revealing examination of how the US took over the Pacific Ocean after World War II.

Reviews

"For anyone interested in power projection, Friedman's examination of interservice and civil-military relations in the postwar era provides a window into the minds of military officials and civilian leaders. From the establishment of overseas bases, to territorial administration to America's earliest experiences with the United Nations, the topics covered in this valuable study remain surprisingly relevant in today's era of overtaxed forces and strained defense budgets." —Heather Ruland Staines, Editorial Director, Praeger Security International

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"Besides the five organizational charts...there are three pages of acronyms before the text. In less able hands, the book could have easily been merely another policy-wonk exercise or routine, belabored work of scholarship. However, Friedman-professor of modern history at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn, MI-has written an informative book for public readership. The author's reputation, research, and numerous publications in this relatively specialized field of U. S. national security policy in the Pacific tie in ideally with current world affairs and concerns. He is an author to be looked to for germane historical, diplomatic, etc., material on the area and for ideas on an effective U. S. presence and activity throughout it." - www.suite101.com