Acknowledgements

During my research, I have been greatly helped by many scholars and friends. In particular, I am grateful to my advisers, Professor Richard S. Katz and Professor Erin Chung. I am also indebted for the guidance and support of Professor Renée Marlin-Bennett. Immense gratitude is due to four people: my two code-breakers, Theresa Dower and Erik M. Bray, my wife, Hitomi Bauwens, and Benjamin Bateman, without whom the tasks of running a solid analysis, Japanese translations, and editing would have taken significantly more time. I also would like to thank our Political Science Faculty for the teaching and help I received along the way, that indirectly prepared me for this project, in particular professors Kellee Tsai, Margaret Keck, Michael Hanchard, Steven Teles, Siba Grovogui, Benjamin Ginsberg, Adam Sheingate, Joseph Cooper, and Daniel Deudney. Additionally, I would like to thank all family and friends who provided moral and other support, contributing to a living environment that helped me finalize this project. I’d particularly like to thank my future wife, Hitomi, for being my rock throughout this time. Also, many thanks to my parents, Paul Bauwens and Christiane Hoeybergs, Marie-Louise Camberlin, my siblings: my godchild Rebecca Bauwens, Jessica Bauwens-Sugimoto, Bernadette, Junior and Anthony Bauwens. Special thanks to Benjamin, Kathryn, and Tyson Bateman for their warm hospitality and friendship. Also many thanks to my little-big Taekwondo sister Irma Zhang, Jennifer King, Aleris Duggan, Angela Kim, Christina Yim, Michael Dower, AJ O’Brien and Jane Pilliod. Furthermore, I would like to acknowledge other friends from my department for their support: Mary Otterbein, Dr. Frankie Clogston, Egle Verseckaite, Dr. Shlomit Barnea, Dr. Jeffrey Pugh, and many others. For their support, also many thanks to the LULAC national leadership, DGB, The Friedrich Ebert-Stiftung, the library staffs of the University of Maryland College Park and JHU Milton S. Eisenhower Libraries.