Could better American-Japanese relations have averted war?

If Americans had treated Japan with more respect, how likely is it that the Pacific War would not have happened?

Probably not: earlier coercion and mutual misunderstanding helped shape the hostility, but the powers also had competing strategic interests.

The two powers had competing interests and a long history of misunderstanding one another. Americans did not adequately appreciate the grievance created by the coercive opening of Japan, while Britain arrived later and could present itself as a more helpful partner. British diplomatic reporting is cited as evidence that this American blind spot was visible at the time. The closing remarks associate the postwar change in American attitudes with Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the brutal choice over whose deaths leaders were willing to accept. Better manners alone could not resolve concrete disputes over power, access, and regional interests.