Dr. John Moser's Op-Ed Published on Cleveland.com

The Cleveland Plain Dealer and Cleveland.com printed a guest column written by Dr. John Moser, AU  Professor of History and Co-Chair of the master's program in American History and Government at the Ashbrook Center. 

Dr. Moser's article, titled "Pearl Harbor at 75 -- Japan's pivotally mistaken views on how Americans would react," discusses why the Japanese made this fateful decision. 

While the United States was the only country capable of interfering with Tokyo's efforts to dominate East Asia, the chances of defeating the Americans in a war seemed pitifully small.

Even in 1941, the U.S. Navy was considerably larger, although most of its strength was based in the Atlantic. More impressive still was the United States' industrial output, which even during the worst of the Great Depression was seven times greater than that of Japan -- and by the end of 1941, it was closer to ten times greater.

These statistics were no closely guarded secret; they were common knowledge among the leadership in Tokyo. Certainly for the Japanese to initiate a war against the United States must have represented some kind of death wish.

Read the full column at cleveland.com to learn more, including why the Japanese attacked in spite of these odds.