Reflections on war and peace in the Pacific

On Sept. 2, 2015, we will gather with veterans, civilians, military dignitaries and our colleagues from Congress to commemorate the end of the Second World War in the Pacific.

The ceremony being held aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii will mark the 70th anniversary of the date on which Japan surrendered to the United States and its allies, bringing to an end a cataclysm that claimed some 30 million lives across Asia and the Pacific Ocean.

The Second World War is a somber subject with a complex legacy, but the end of that terrible conflict is something that everyone — not just the victorious powers — should commemorate.

The end of the War in the Pacific was not just a reprieve for the millions of men, women, and children caught up in the conflict. It was also a transformational moment for the Asia-Pacific region.

It did not bring universal peace or freedom, but it did usher in a new and enduring international order. That order, led and defended by the United States and its partners, has enabled many nations in Asia to emerge or reemerge in the decades since 1945 as increasingly free and prosperous states in a relatively peaceful region. Japan — our former adversary — now stands as a close U.S. ally and a responsible stakeholder in the international system.

It is fitting, therefore, that we should commemorate the end of the War in the Pacific. But we should also remember how and why that terrible conflict began. Most Americans think of the Pacific War as a 4-year contest that started on Dec. 7, 1941, but Imperial Japan aggressed against its neighbors long before Pearl Harbor.

As in Europe, the road to war in Asia passed what the late historian Mark Peattie called "numerous forks pointing the way toward … aggression or accommodation, action or inaction." Unfortunately, the United States and the other great powers did too little until it was too late, and, as Peattie tells us, "the failure of the international community to take effective action to prevent aggression and to limit the use of force in a regional conflict ultimately paved the road to a larger war." That lesson was brought home for Americans right where the Missouri is now anchored.

Seven decades later, it is important to remember how and why the War in the Pacific happened and reflect on how it might have been prevented. History does not repeat itself, as the saying goes, but it does rhyme; and worrisome parallels are visible in the Asia-Pacific region today.

Nationalism is on the rise once again, and in China we now see another rising Asian nation rapidly amassing economic and military power and starting to flex its growing muscles. Watching these events unfold, as Princeton’s Aaron Friedberg recently observed, "it has become increasingly difficult to escape the conclusion that Beijing’s ultimate aim is to displace the United States and resume its traditional position as the preponderant power in Asia."

As the outcome of the war in the Pacific reminds us, the United States and its allies are resilient, although often slow to react. But we should not assume that the post-war international order that we established in the region will endure without continuous American leadership and efforts to shore it up.

The United States should welcome the "peaceful rise of China," but it must also make clear through words and deeds that the use of force and coercion by any country in the Asia-Pacific region will be strongly and resolutely opposed. Skillful diplomacy will be needed to convey our positions, but we must also maintain a balance of hard power that will not allow China to dominate the region or achieve its aims with force and coercion.

As we gather to commemorate the end of one conflict in the Pacific, we should reaffirm our pledge to deter and prevent the outbreak of another.