A foreign journalist's inside look at American culture and history via its use of violence

Democracy with a Gun

America and the Policy of Force

by Fumio Matsuo
Translated by David Reese

306 pp, 6 x 9”, case,
ISBN 978-1-933330-46-4, $26.00

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“Fumio Matsuo, a veteran Japanese journalist who has spent many years in the United States, follows in the footsteps of de Tocqueville and other foreign observers who have looked at the United States through the prism of their own backgrounds, focusing on its positive characteristics without ignoring its negatives.”—Claude S. Erbsen, Former Vice President and Director of World Services, The Associated Press

“The Japanese have long been fascinated by what Americans think of Japan, but what do the Japanese think of America? Fumio Matsuo, a veteran journalist, provides one answer in Democracy with a Gun. Matsuo comments on everything from U.S. history to the Iraq conflict, blending sincere admiration with honest critique.”—Steven Vogel, Professor of Political Science, UC Berkeley

“A painstaking work that analyzes from various angles the meaning of the ‘gun’ in a state that was created to embody the ideals of democracy. . . . Based on rich experience and knowledge, it is a tour de force by the author, who has returned to journalism at the age of seventy to transmit his war memories.”—Tadashi Ito, China Bureau Chief, Sankei Shimbun

With a foreign perspective rarely provided by English-language media pundits, one of Japan’s best-known international journalists traces America’s position today as the world’s sole superpower, providing in-depth, controversial analysis of America’s use of force to achieve its goals.

Fumio Matsuo worked for the Kyodo News Service from 1956 to 2002, serving as Washington Bureau Chief from 1981 to 1984.

Democracy with a Gun was first published in Japanese in 2004 and won the 52nd Annual Award of the Japan Essayist Club.