The Ryukyuan emigration program to Bolivia as a cold war policy

Abstract

This study deals with Cold War Okinawa and the genesis of the emigration program that was organised by the U.S. military during the 1950s. As result of the postwar agreements with Japan, the United States occupied the Ryukyu Islands and began to build a series of military complexes in the Island. The emigrational movement from Okinawa to Bolivia was part of a security policy planned by the U.S. authorities to maintain social and political stability in the Ryukyu Islands. Therefore, the study of the Okinawan emigration program in the 1950s highlights the fact that security considerations may play an important part in migration, and thus that both sender and receiver states may play a major role in international migration. The Ryukyuan emigration program is analyzed utilizing the Hegemonic Stability Theory since it can be applied to the relation between the world's hegemonic nation and international migration. The selection of Bolivia as the first hosting country is also studied since the U.S. authorities tried not only to put forward security policies in Okinawa but also assist friendly governments.