Asia First
China and the Making of Modern American Conservatism
Joyce Mao
- After
- Japanese
- bombs
- hit
- Pearl
- Harbor,
- the
- American
- right
- stood
- at
- a
- crossroads.
- Generally
- isolationist,
- conservatives
- needed
- to
- forge
- their
- own
- foreign
- policy
- agenda
- if
- they
- wanted
- to
- remain
- politically
- viable.
- When
- Mao
- Zedong
- established
- the
- People’s
- Republic
- of
- China
- in
- 1949—with
- the
- Cold
- War
- just
- underway—they
- had
- a
- new
- object
- of
- foreign
- policy,
- and
- as
- Joyce
- Mao
- reveals
- in
- this
- fascinating
- new
- look
- at
- twentieth-century
- Pacific
- affairs,
- that
- change
- would
- provide
- vital
- ingredients
- for
- American
- conservatism
- as
- we
- know
- it
- today.Mao
- explores
- the
- deep
- resonance
- American
- conservatives
- felt
- with
- the
- defeat
- of
- Chiang
- Kai-Shek
- and
- his
- exile
- to
- Taiwan,
- which
- they
- lamented
- as
- the
- loss
- of
- China
- to
- communism
- and
- the
- corrosion
- of
- traditional
- values.
- In
- response,
- they
- fomented
- aggressive
- anti-communist
- positions
- that
- urged
- greater
- action
- in
- the
- Pacific,
- a
- policy
- known
- as
- “Asia
- First.”
- While
- this
- policy
- would
- do
- nothing
- to
- oust
- the
- communists
- from
- China,
- it
- was
- powerfully
- effective
- at
- home.
- Asia
- First
- provided
- American
- conservatives
- a
- set
- of
- ideals—American
- sovereignty,
- selective
- military
- intervention,
- strident
- anti-communism,
- and
- the
- promotion
- of
- a
- technological
- defense
- state—that
- would
- bring
- them
- into
- the
- global
- era
- with
- the
- positions
- that
- are
- now
- their hallmark.
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