VICTORY WITHOUT WAR
The American weekly Time (July 4, 1988) published a cover story on Japan. Its telling title was:
Super Japan: Can an economic giant become a global power?
In 1945, America celebrated victory over Japan. Today, that same defeated Japan is gaining victory over America. At first, this victory was only economic, but now it is spreading into other fields as well. America is currently the world’s largest debtor nation, with $400 billion in foreign debt. By contrast, Japan is the world’s largest creditor nation, having lent $240 billion to the world.
These days in America, many books and articles are appearing that argue America is moving quickly toward decline, while Japan is rising rapidly. One such book is:
The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Professor Paul Kennedy, 1987.
After reading that issue of Time, many readers wrote letters to the magazine. Some of these letters were published in the following issue: (July 25, 1988). One letter, written by Brian Mirsky of Princeton, stated simply: “your article on Japan’s economic success makes it clear that although the U.S. won the war, Japan won the peace”.
Japan’s story shows just how wide the range of possibilities is in God’s world. Here, the defeated can rise above the victor—without fighting a war, without ever directly clashing with the conqueror.
