Japan and the "Irrepressible Expansion" Doctrine
In the preliminary propagandas employed by all of the Powers as a means to enter the Conference on Limitation of Armaments and Far Eastern and Pacific Ocean Questions at Washington in favorable (to themselves) positions, it is evident that the plea of Japanese that they must have room for expansion because their present national domain is over-populated has been more sympathetically received than other arguments designed to forecast Japan's attitude in the Conference.
Put in terms of international relations, this proposition is based on the doctrine of "irrepressible expansion." The doctrine of "irrepressible expansion" often has been used as a diplomatic device by aggressive and imperialistic nations, but it never has secured any recognized status in international law. The practical formula of the doctrine amounts to this: If a Power desires possession of territory belonging to another nation, and the Power wanting that territory is stronger in military force than the other nation, then the Power which wants to expand decides itself that it requires the additional territory and moves into it. Usually the process of moving in is oblique and gradual; frequently it takes the form of "peaceful economic penetration" of the region which it is purposed later to annex—first the traders, then the "colonists," then troops to "police" the country for the protection of the traders and colonists. If excuse for "policing" the region is needed, political "agents provocateur" are employed to stir up the native population to resent the intrusion, and to incite clashes between the natives and the foreign "colonists." Events have made this process familiar to those who follow intelligently the modern causes for international friction and wars. The Doctrine of "irre-
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