Military-Industrial-Academic Complex and Higher Education in U.S. Occupited Okinawa

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16H07258
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: International relations
• Research Institution: Rikkyo University
• Principal Investigator: MIZOGUCHI So 立教大学, 法学部, 助教 (60781937)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-08-26 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 文化政策 / 冷戦 / 高等教育政策 / 沖縄 / 近代化

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research analyzes U.S. policy on higher education during the American occupation of Okinawa. As the rise of the Cold War shaped the character of the Ryukyu Islands, postwar educational rehabilitation was positioned as the basis of an ideological battle between the United States and the Soviet Union. Among educational rehabilitation projects, the University of the Ryukyus Project was a centerpiece of Cold War educational policy. The U.S. military expected that the university would consistently educate new pro-American elite groups. With the scope of education policy expanding, however, the military was forced to handle many issues which required advanced academic skill. To accelerate the reconstruction process, the Army sought assistance from outside experts. Like other modernization projects in the world, the democratization of education in postwar Okinawa was actually a byproduct of the military-industrial-academic complex, which embodied the Cold War ideology of modernization.

Free Research Field

アメリカ国際関係論