Military, Economic (DIME) In World War II: An Analysis

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The Application of Diplomacy, Information, Military, Economic (DIME) in World War II Crowl (1978), in a lecture at the Air Force Academy, discussed the importance of studying history as a military strategist and highlighted six questions that must be considered by civilian and military leaders responsible for war related decision-making. One of these questions concerns an assessment of the alternatives to war and the development of contingency plans, if the chosen alternative to war fails (Crowl, 1978). This paper attempts to examine Crowl’s question about the alternatives to military power from the perspective of President Franklin D. Roosevelt using the Diplomacy, Information, Military, Economic (DIME) construct of the national instruments …show more content…

In the late 1930s, Roosevelt believed this strategy would be effective based on his assessment of Germany’s waning resources and power as a result of maintaining full military mobilization for the better part of a decade; this was supported by European military intelligence sources who reported Germany had almost exhausted its gasoline supply (Bell, 2008). Tooze (2006) describes how the shortages of raw materials negatively impacted Germany’s armaments and aircraft production; however, Bell (2008) indicates Hitler did not fully mobilize until 1942. Roosevelt’s DIME approach towards Germany was heavily reliant on economic and information means through the use of sanctions, blockades, and information operations. Information operations included statements made by Roosevelt that only served to antagonize Hitler as well as the fact that Roosevelt’s support of the Allied cause was increasingly obvious to the world (Bell, 2008; Tooze, 2006). Tooze (2006) proposes that Hitler accelerated his military advance into Poland and the subsequent world war as a result of Germany’s economic hardships and decreasing military advantage and the growing alliance between the United States and the Allies, an unintended consequence of Roosevelt’s …show more content…

Maechling (2000) states Japan was dependent on the United States for many imports, particularly petroleum; so, similar to his approach to Germany, Roosevelt utilized economic sanctions on raw materials and aviation fuel to incentivize Japan to engage in diplomatic discussions, a DIME strategy also relying heavily on diplomacy, economics, and information. Discussions reached a stalemate and Japan resumed the violent quest for resources into Indo-China, leading the United States to freeze all Japanese assets and cut off the supply of petroleum (Maechling, 2000). Roosevelt was well-informed about the state of affairs in the Pacific due to access to encrypted Japanese communications describing the devastating impact of the petroleum embargo and warnings from his ambassador to Japan, who predicted the nation might behave impulsively if cornered (Maechling, 2000). However, Roosevelt was not able to apply strategic insight to understand how Japan would respond to his use of non-military instruments, such as the petroleum embargo. Maechling (2000) postulates Roosevelt’s strategy may have contributed to another unintended consequence – the attack on Pearl

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