Why Yonai might make a negotiated settlement credible

Yonai's standing in Britain and the United States could help move talks past the deadlock over preconditions. Unlike moderates whom Washington considered powerless, he had already led a government and possessed recognizable authority inside Japan. His back channels could therefore carry assurances with more weight than Konoe's increasingly contradictory diplomacy. At home, openly resisting a prime minister acknowledged as the emperor's adviser could split the army rather than unite it against the cabinet.