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Overall Summary
Debt of Honor is a novel by Tom Clancy. It was published in 1994 and it’s the sequel to The Sum of All Fears, which came out in 1991. In Debt of Honor, Jack Ryan works as a security advisor for the United States government to stop a political coup that takes place in Japan. The book has been interpreted as being about events leading up to September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City and Washington D.C..
The novel begins by introducing the main character, Raizo Yamata. He is a Japanese industrialist who wants to restore Japan’s greatness by regaining its geopolitical dominance and make the US pay for killing his family during World War II. The author then contextualizes how he plans to do this: First, he will use an economic embargo against the US in response to a car crash that happens in Tennessee that causes explosions at gas tanks manufactured in Japan. Then, he’ll leverage this economic desperation to take charge of most powerful business elites and create military action against the United States with covert support from India and China. He hopes that doing so will reduce American power over Pacific region and create a closed economic system.
After the US sanctions, Japan replaced its prime minister with someone who was very critical of the United States. The Japanese government also reexamined their nuclear program and began to deploy several missiles. In a military exercise, they pretended to make a mistake and attacked four American ships by launching torpedoes at them. They strategically avoided retaliation by attacking from an economic angle, using spies in the Federal Reserve to plant code that deleted financial records in trading platforms, which threw those systems into chaos. At this point, Japan asked for peace while confusing and delaying action from the United States.
The president then calls Jack Ryan out of retirement and appoints him as the national security advisor. Jack suggests that the president first tackle the economic crisis by ignoring Japan’s deleted trade data, which would restore stability to the market. He also suggests that they sell investment products in order to negate Japan’s recent economic advantage.
The US military retaliated by destroying Japan’s air traffic tracking and analytics system. They did this in a series of covert attacks while placing strategically placed weaponry to destroy most of Japan’s aircrafts. This forced the Japanese to surrender, as they had no more ways to attack back. In defeat, Goto resigned his leadership position and Koga returned from being held hostage by Yamata (he was rescued). The United States reinstated peace with Japan, generously agreeing on returning the state of diplomacy that existed before Yamata’s coup.
The novel ends with the vice president being accused of sexual misconduct. The US president nominates Jack to replace him. A pilot for Japan Airlines flies a Boeing 747 into the US Capitol building during a congressional session, killing everyone except Jack, who narrowly escapes and is therefore named president. As the novel ends, he takes the oath of office on live television in CNN’s Washington DC studio.
This book is about the United States and Japan, which are rivals. The two countries’ relationship quickly reaches a crisis point. Both nations must decide what to do when their fates are controlled by their most daring constituents.
