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I develop a model of status stratification in the international system and demonstrate the implications of the model in the case studies of Turkey and Japan, and their common inability to deal with past crimes. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The leaders of both Japan and Turkey have recently made headlines with their refusal to acknowledge past atrocities committed by their states. In the case of Japan, the refusal centers on the Japanese state’s role in forcing Korean women into prostitution during WWII. In the case of Turkey the refusal is an outright denial of the Armenian genocide. It would be easy to dismiss these actions as the product of irrational nationalist bravado, put on for the benefit of a domestic audience. However, given the international character of these disputes, and their very serious consequences for the diplomatic credibility of the countries in question, international relations scholars have an obligation to explain why states act in ways which are contrary to their short-term self-interests. I argue that because of the social status hierarchy in the international system, admitting to past atrocities is more difficult for those states which are not naturally or inherently favored by the norms of the international system. In other words, it is not an accident that two Asian states with the highest aspirations to join the Western the world are also the states which have the most difficulty facing their past. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]