Profs and Pints Northern Virginia presents: “The Road to Pearl Harbor,” on the events leading up to a Japanese attack on U.S. soil, with Richard Thornton, professor emeritus of history and international affairs at George Washington University and president of the Institute for the Study of Strategy and Politics, and James Perry, Institute co-director.

Virtually all historical accounts of the deadly December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor focus on tensions and conflict between the U.S. and Japan while failing to examine the broader chain of world events surrounding Japan’s decision.

Come to Crooked Run Fermentation on Pearl Harbor Day to gain a much richer understanding of the attack as driven by strategic considerations related to places as distant as Manchuria, Siberia, and Moscow.

The speakers, historians and international affairs experts Richard Thornton and James Perry, will describe how the Pearl Harbor attack stemmed from the Axis effort to construct a global alliance before World War II. Germany and Japan, which had begun collaborating in 1936, wanted to jointly conquer the Soviet Union and saw the need to secure a defense perimeter before doing so. The United States got in the way of that effort. 

Dr. Thornton and Dr. Perry will jointly take you through the events that led to Pearl Harbor and discuss the U.S. counterattack in 1942. Their talk will greatly enhance your understanding of a date that will live in infamy. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Door: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.)

Image: Burning and sinking ships in the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack (U.S. Navy photo / National Archies.)