Western Europe and Japan Between the Superpowers

First published in 1984, Western Europe and Japan Between the Superpowers is a challenging contribution to the great debate over Western security. Instead of lining up with those who favour the construction of a global alliance under American leadership or those who want neutralism or non-alignment, Wolf Mendl accepts some of the premises of both and argues for a third course. Taking a long view, he suggests that Japan and the three major states of Western Europe should collaborate in pursuing policies which retain a basic but limited security relationship with the United States and at the same time reassure the Soviet Union that its security is not threatened, seeking to make it a partner rather than adversary in creating a more peaceful world order. Wolf Mendl concludes his broad and reflective historical analysis of the postwar era with a discussion of the areas in which the European states and Japan could enter a fruitful collaboration; sometimes acting in parallel and sometimes together.

Wolf Mendl was a distinguished teacher in the field of international relations at Kings College, University of London for twenty-six years. He published several significant books about relations between Japan and China in the Cold War period.

Introduction 1. Security in a Changing International Environment 2. The Military Dimension 3. The Alliance with the United States 4. Relations with the Soviet Union 5. Europe, Japan and the Third World 6. Europe's and Japan's Choices Glossary Appendix I: The North Atlantic Treaty (1949) Appendix II: Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States of America and Japan (1960)