rican influence was less than desirable. An alliance would permit a foothold by the United States in a region of the world where communist aggression might otherwise go unchecked. These mutual interest for an alliance led to inseparable economic ties and, eventually, to the U.S.-Japanese Security Treaty in 1951. The Treaty officially incorporated Japan into the U.S.-initiated containment policy directed against the Soviet Union.
Japan took some advantage of the American interest in containing Soviet expansionism. The U.S.-Japan Security Treaty locked the United States into playing a major role in ensuring Japan's security from foreign invasion all the while guaranteeing that Japan would have to contribute very little to its own defense needs. The Treaty codified the American commitment to defend Japan from external aggression in exchange for allowing the stationing of some 100,000 American troops on Japanese soil. The agreement was rather one-sided, however: although the United States agreed to defend Japan, the Japanese assumed little obligation to defend American interests, even in the amended version of the Treaty in 1960 when the word "mutual" was inserted into the treaty's title. At the same time, Japan was permitted to contribute little to its own defense, with Japanese political leaders pledging no more than 1% of the nation's Gross Domestic Product allocated to mili
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