THE PLAZA ACCORD: HOW JAPAN WAS DESTROYED
Global Affairs Session 24 28 April 2026 THE PLAZA ACCORD: HOW JAPAN WAS DESTROYED What China (and Iran) are doing This session traces U.S.-Japan relations from war and occupation to alliance and trade imbalance, then argues that the 1985 Plaza Accord’s yen appreciation weakened Japan’s export engine, encouraged monetary expansion, inflated an asset bubble and contributed to long-term stagnation. It then presents the lessons China - and states watching the Iran war of 2026 - may draw about currency control, strategic autonomy, sanctions-proof finance and vulnerable chokepoints.