A Presidential Visit to Hiroshima (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised May 19, 2016 |
| Report Number |
IF10395 |
| Report Type |
In Focus |
| Authors |
Emma Chanlett-Avery |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
-
Premium April 21, 2016 (2 pages, $24.95)
add
|
Summary:
Speculation in the press and policy circles has grown that
President Obama could become the first sitting U.S.
president to visit Hiroshima when he travels to Japan for the
May 26-27 G-7 summit. In the closing days of World War
II, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese
cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing an estimated
200,000 people, about half of whom died immediately. The
bombings were the two and only times that nuclear
weapons have been used in war. On August 15, 1945, six
days after the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan surrendered to
Allied Forces.
A visit to Hiroshima would allow President Obama to
return to the issue of nuclear disarmament that he broached
in the early months of his Administration. In a speech in
Prague in April 2009, he pledged to pursue an agenda that
would reduce nuclear dangers and lead, in the future, to the
worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons. The Norwegian
Nobel Committee in 2009 awarded him the Nobel Peace
Prize due in part to his advocacy for a world free of nuclear
weapons. During a visit to Japan in 2009, Obama was
quoted by a reporter as saying, “The memories of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki are etched in the minds of the
world, and I would be honored to have the opportunity to
visit those cities at some point during my presidency.”
In what some observers interpreted as a possible prelude to
an Obama visit, on April 11, 2016, U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry became the highest-level U.S. official to visit
Hiroshima. He laid a wreath at the memorial site and toured
the museum that portrays the destruction of the atomic
bombing. Kerry visited with his counterparts from the other
G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and
the United Kingdom), including Japanese Foreign Minister
Fumio Kishida, a Hiroshima native.
Some critics could interpret a presidential visit to
Hiroshima as an implicit apology for a military decision
justified by ending a devastating war and saving American
lives. Further, it could unearth difficult historical issues
between Washington and Tokyo that could potentially
degrade the strength of the thriving bilateral alliance. In
contrast, supporters see a visit as an opportunity to reiterate
the President’s commitment to work towards a world free
of nuclear weapons, as well as a powerful demonstration of
reconciliation between erstwhile enemies. The emotional
element of a visit could animate domestic politics in both
countries, as well as engage the international disarmament
community and regional powers.
