A Revolutionary War
Korea and the Transformation of the Postwar World
Edited by William J. Williams
1993; xiv+265 pp., index
Paper ISBN 1-879176-16-5 $29.95
Military History Symposium Series of the USAF Academy, Vol. 2
Chicago: Imprint Publications
For too long the Korean War has been overshadowed by the triumphant Allied military victory in World War II and the American tragedy of VietnamCparenthetically subordinated in military and diplomatic history. This volume argues that the Korean conflict deserves far more attention, for it was a significant watershed that transformed key elements of the global environment that emerged after World War II. The Communist aggression across the 38th parallel led to a revolution in American defense policy as the United States assumed the mantle of the Free World's Achief policeman.@ The U.S. relationship with NATO and Western Europe underwent dramatic transformation as well, and the United States altered its policy toward China, Korea, and the Third World in ways that seemed improbable before the sudden North Korean attack. Militarily, the war witnessed dramatic changes in the use of airpower as jets replaced propeller-driven aircraft and Soviet pilots, for the first and only time, squared off against their counterparts from the West. American military forces, under the crucible of combat, also mobilized reserve forces in new ways and implemented unprecedented programs that made racial integration a reality in the U.S. armed services, which then became the Aschool for the nation@ in civil rights. Finally, the conflict substantially transformed AsiaCproviding an impetus for cultural change in Japan; marking the ascension of the People's Republic of China to major power status; and radically changing the traditional patterns of development in both North and South Korea. The war was, in short, a seminal event that had a revolutionary impact on the shape of the postwar world.
Contents: John Edward WilzCEncountering Korea: American Perceptions and Policies to 25 June 1950; Alan L. GropmanCThe Korean War and Armed Forces Racial Integration; Lewis SorleyCReserve Forces in Limited War; Richard P. HallionCNaval Air Operations in Korea; Jon HallidayCAir Operations in Korea: The Soviet Side of the Story; William StueckCThe Korean War, NATO, and Rearmament; Rosemary FootCPax Americana: Setting the Global Agenda after the Korean War; Roger DingmanCThe Dagger and the Gift: The Impact of the Korean War on Japan; Philip WestCConfronting the West: China as David and Goliath in the Korean War; B. C. KohCThe War's Impact on the Korean Peninsula.
"A Revolutionary War . . . is a sound sampler of international scholarship on the war's causes, conduct, and consequences. . . . The book is particularly suited to classroom use in courses on American foreign policy."CAllan R. Millett, Journal of AmericanBEast Asian Relations
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