We interviewed international political analyst Kan Ito about the U.S., why Trump is so popular, and what Japan must do in anticipation of the situation post-U.S. Presidential elections.

Opinions of an International Political Analyst

Interviewer (I): Why do you think Donald Trump is so popular?

Ito: I will explain Trump’s popularity from three viewpoints: economics, diplomacy and racial issues.

First, about economics: for the past 40 years, the average growth rate of the U.S. economy has been around 2.6%, but despite this 70% of the people have been experiencing a stagnation or drop in their income. On the contrary, a rise in income has been concentrated in the top 1% of the people.

Politicians, however, have been ignoring this ever-widening wealth disparity. This is because both Democratic and Republican politicians depend on funding by the super wealthy top 0.1% class. The Democrat Sanders and Republican Trump both gained in popularity because they openly criticized this sort of economic management.

The U.S. has also continuously failed in term of diplomacy. It has been 27 years since the end of the Cold War between the U.S. and the USSR. Of these 27 years, the U.S. has spent 22 of them engaging in warfare somewhere in the world. To add to this, most of these wars ended in a failure to achieve the desired objectives, and because of this, around 70% of Americans have become war-weary.

Criticism of George W. Bush

In 2003, former U.S. President George W. Bush of the Republican Party lied that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, and began a war that crushed the stability of the Middle East. Republican politicians had maintained their silence on this grave mistake; but Trump, on the other hand, criticized Bush at a Republican Party presidential debate head-on, for lying in order to invade Iraq. Trump’s honesty shocked everyone.

On top of these economic and diplomatic mistakes, the U.S. is also facing a serious situation with racism too. Until the 1960s, 80% of Americans were white. Thereafter, the black and Hispanic population increased and now white people make up 60% of the total population. Some white people have a fearful feeling that sooner or later they will become the racial minority. Trump’s straightforward plan to “build a great wall” on the border of Mexico is becoming a sort of reassurance for this fear.

So, the U.S Government has failed in economics, diplomacy and racial issues. The people have been feeling uneasy and unsatisfied by this, but the government has been ignoring them. This is why Trump’s honest outcry has been gathering tremendous popularity.

It May Seem Extreme, But . . .

(I): The U.S. was the greatest country in the world, but now their power is diminishing, and China has come out. What should Japan do in this situation?

Ito: The person in charge of diplomatic relations called it “Full Spectrum Dominance”: it is the strategy for the U.S. government to rule every country in the world. It means that every country submits to the U.S. in every respect. Part of this dominance plan was taken up against Japan after their defeat in WWII: namely, the anti-Japanese government policy of eternally depriving Japan of the power to protect their own country. Trump, however, is telling Japan to hold nuclear arms and protect their own country. In terms of ‘balance-of-power’ this idea is correct. This is because if Japan holds nuclear weapons and counters other nuclear possessing countries such as China and North Korea, the U.S. will not have to take part in East Asian conflicts.

Trump is trying to avoid the U.S. having to go to war with Russia and China. His ideas may seem extreme, but he is actually a war-hater.

Japan Must Decide

What Trump is telling Japan, is common sense. He is practically saying, “It’s been 71 years since WWII, and it’s about time you protect your own country.” This is bad news for the Japanese media and government officials who had been expecting Japan to remain a U.S. military protectorate, but the one who is absurd is not the U.S., but Japan.

Economic and racial problems will still become more serious in the U.S., and even if Hilary Clinton were to become President this year, the same issues will unmistakably come up again at the following Presidential elections. It is time for Japan to decide whether it can really regain complete independence.