Was the “Yoshida Doctrine” a masterstroke or a myth? Discuss in relation to the concept of doctrine, the institutional and historical contexts, and the role of Yoshida Shigeru as a leader.

Paper Structure

• Introduction
• Define the Yoshida Doctrine
• Brief Background on other academic perspectives of the Yoshida Doctrine until now (very brief)
• Thesis statement – it is a Masterstroke, rather than a Myth
• Outline of the paper
• Is the Yoshida Doctrine really a doctrine
• What constitutes a doctrine? Are there certain Criteria?
• Does the Yoshida Doctrine fit into this analysis of what a doctrine is
• Maybe yes; because it was adhered to as an overarching foreign and security policy guide (expand) (find other reasons also)
• No; because it does not fit into the neat Western category of Doctrine (expand) (find other reasons also)
• Even if it does not, why can it still be considered a doctrine?
• The Institutional and Historical Context of Japan After the Second World War
• The Role of Yoshida Shigeru
• What was his foreign policy approach?
• Actions he took during his leadership that lead to the creation of the Doctrine
• Yoshida’s role e in the development of the Doctrine VS other individuals (his successors/students)
• Counter Arguments
• in what ways can the Yoshida Doctrine not be considered a master stroke (come up with 3 counterarguments minimum)?
• Conclusion
• Refute counter arguments
• Restate the thesis
• Why has the thesis been proven correct (make reference to the arguments made in the paper)