Jennifer Lind: Apology Diplomacy at Hiroshima
[Jennifer Lind is Assistant Professor of Government at Dartmouth College and the author of Sorry States: Apologies in International Politics. She has worked as a consultant for RAND and for the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Defense; lived and worked in Japan; and written previously for The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy.]
Tad Akiba, Mayor of Hiroshima, didn't listen to instructions. During his visit to the White House last January, Akiba and a throng of other visiting mayors listened dutifully as handlers informed them that they would not be able to speak or shake hands individually with President Obama. "I just walked right up to him and shook his hand," Akiba grinned unabashedly. Apparently one does not get elected mayor of a large Japanese city by being reticent.
Akiba seized the moment to invite President Obama to visit Hiroshima, and the president responded politely (if vaguely) that he would "like to come." The president plans to visit Japan in November for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Yokohama. His brief interchange with Akiba has opened up a world of debate about whether during that trip he will indeed visit the site of the first U.S. atomic bombing in World War II, and whether or not in such a visit Obama might apologize to Japan.
Further energizing this debate was last week's visit by the U.S. Ambassador to Japan to the commemoration ceremony at Hiroshima, which marked the 65th anniversary of the bombing. This was the first time a U.S. official has ever attended the annual August 6 ceremony. It was the Ambassador's second visit; he visited for the first time last October, and said he was "deeply moved" by the experience. At last week's visit, Roos gave neither a speech nor comments to reporters who sought his reactions. A previous statement released by the U.S. Embassy in Japan said that the Ambassador's attendance at the ceremony was intended to "honor all of the victims of World War II" and to testify to the Administration's commitment to disarmament: "For the sake of future generations, we must continue to work together to realize a world without nuclear weapons."
Although many people were no doubt disappointed by the absence of a U.S. apology at last week's ceremony, to some that was not the point. Mayor Akiba explains that he welcomed Ambassador Roos, and has invited President Obama, not to solicit an American apology for the atomic attack, but to further the global anti-nuclear agenda. At last week's ceremony, Akiba -- himself an A-bomb survivor -- said in his speech, "We need to communicate to every corner of the globe the intense yearning of the survivors for the abolition of nuclear weapons. I offer my prayers to those who died." He said that the survivors have long waited for global nuclear disarmament, adding, "We will not make you wait for much longer."...
Read entire article at The Atlantic
Tad Akiba, Mayor of Hiroshima, didn't listen to instructions. During his visit to the White House last January, Akiba and a throng of other visiting mayors listened dutifully as handlers informed them that they would not be able to speak or shake hands individually with President Obama. "I just walked right up to him and shook his hand," Akiba grinned unabashedly. Apparently one does not get elected mayor of a large Japanese city by being reticent.
Akiba seized the moment to invite President Obama to visit Hiroshima, and the president responded politely (if vaguely) that he would "like to come." The president plans to visit Japan in November for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Yokohama. His brief interchange with Akiba has opened up a world of debate about whether during that trip he will indeed visit the site of the first U.S. atomic bombing in World War II, and whether or not in such a visit Obama might apologize to Japan.
Further energizing this debate was last week's visit by the U.S. Ambassador to Japan to the commemoration ceremony at Hiroshima, which marked the 65th anniversary of the bombing. This was the first time a U.S. official has ever attended the annual August 6 ceremony. It was the Ambassador's second visit; he visited for the first time last October, and said he was "deeply moved" by the experience. At last week's visit, Roos gave neither a speech nor comments to reporters who sought his reactions. A previous statement released by the U.S. Embassy in Japan said that the Ambassador's attendance at the ceremony was intended to "honor all of the victims of World War II" and to testify to the Administration's commitment to disarmament: "For the sake of future generations, we must continue to work together to realize a world without nuclear weapons."
Although many people were no doubt disappointed by the absence of a U.S. apology at last week's ceremony, to some that was not the point. Mayor Akiba explains that he welcomed Ambassador Roos, and has invited President Obama, not to solicit an American apology for the atomic attack, but to further the global anti-nuclear agenda. At last week's ceremony, Akiba -- himself an A-bomb survivor -- said in his speech, "We need to communicate to every corner of the globe the intense yearning of the survivors for the abolition of nuclear weapons. I offer my prayers to those who died." He said that the survivors have long waited for global nuclear disarmament, adding, "We will not make you wait for much longer."...