What are interpretive models? Describe the rational actor model.
Chapter 13: The Decision to Drop the Bomb
1) What are interpretive models? Describe the rational actor model.
The use of “models” is commonly interpreted in different ways. Historians have adapted the use of these very models from social sciences. Interpretive models as they are referred to are reduced from the scale of reality and increases the researchers’ capacity to describe the characteristics of what they observe. Models can be applied to systems as basics as individuals behavior or as grand as the world climate. However while the capacity is overwhelmingly grand they are not infinite, limitations are set. Another adaptation of the social sciences historians have managed to grasp is that of the “rational actor” model, this type of model is used without even thinking of it as an actual quote on quote model. Rational actor theory treats the actions of government and large organizations as the acts of individuals. It assumes that the individual actor behaves rationally in that he or she uses the most efficient means to pursue ends that are in his or her self-interest. For example, when involving government leaders, the leaders will proceed to choose among a range of possible actions. The selection of an action will be the option that achieves and is geared to the best results at the lower cost. The appeal of this model lies in its predictive powers.
2) Who is Gar Alperovitz and what are his conclusions about bomb’s use? What evidence does he use to support his theory?
Gar Alperovitz a well-known historian argued after the death of Franklin Roosevelt in April 1945 that President Truman was more preoccupied with containing the Soviet Union than with defeating Japan. His conclusion came out by the evaluation of the factors and events leading into the use of the atomic bomb. Alperovitz examined the information available to Truman and his advisors in the summer of 1945, that very data, he argued should have convinced President Truman (or any other rational actor in said situation) that the United States had no convincing military reason to drop atomic bombs on Japan. The American navy had already made great progress by establishing a tight blockade around Japan, cutting off delivery for raw materials and threatening the Japanese economy with widespread starvation. Allied land-based bombers had leveled whole sections of Tokyo without opposition from Japanese fighters. In July 1945 Japan was ready to consider capitulation except that in 1943 Roosevelt had laid down an uncompromising terms of “unconditional surrender”. The Japanese were frightened that the United States would insist upon the emperor leaving his throne, their only hope was to negotiate.
This information recognized by President Truman yet he still set forth with Roosevelt’s original plan of unconditional surrender. A series of events beginning with the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, followed by a Russian declaration of war, and the second bombing of Nagasaki on August 9 entered the world into the new atomic age. Even with all this occurrence Japan only surrendered when the US made an implicit commitment to retain the emperor. Despite Truman’s insistence on an unconditional surrender, in the end it was conditional. Alperovitz’s conclusion was that if ending the war was Truman’s only goal, the obvious rational response would be to give Japan a few extra days or weeks to negotiate a surrender. The dropping of the bomb could have been avoided. Based on these circumstances logic proves that President Truman’s primary goal was to intimidate the Soviet Union. Roosevelt discussed the sensitive subject surrounding the creation of the atomic bomb with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, they agreed to keep it a secret from the Russians. Alperovitz’s contended just that, the leaders recognized how valuable a lever the weapon might be in postwar negotiations.
3) What factors influenced President Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb?
Factors such as organizational processes and bureaucratic politics came into play when
President Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb was made. In 1945 committee members decided that a combat demonstration would facilitate negotiations with the Russians. Assumptions such as this brought about three conclusions, one was that the bomb should be used as quickly as possible against Japan, two the plan was to maximize shock value the target should be a war plant surrounded by workers homes, and three no warning should be given. It was decided the two bombs should be separated into different raids during August in to maximize shock and convince Japanese that further resistance meant certain destruction. James Byrnes believed using the bomb quickly would minimize Russian demands for territorial and political concessions in Asia, as well as strengthen the US in any postwar negotiations. None of Truman’s advisers wanted to rely on soviet entry into the war as an alternative to dropping the bomb. By the time of the Potsdam conference Japans military position had become hopeless. The United States did not want to encourage Stalin’s ambitions especially when the bomb was available for use. While it seemed President Truman was pretty much onboard for the use of the atomic bomb not all agreed. Scientists like those in the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory lacked the political influence to change policy after a discussion surrounding the possible postwar implications of nuclear weapons and the threat of an international arms race. However, those in power were
Truman, Byrnes, and Stimson, their debate was not regarding whether to drop the bomb but rather when they would commit such an act. Their priority was to end the war quickly and to transit a dramatic warning to the world. The events leading up to the dropping of the bomb were based on a military basis rather than a moral basis. President Truman’s goal was one that was overshadowed with the destruction of the Japanese while it was clear there was in fact alternate possibilities of meeting a conditional surrender.
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