 Its government seems driven by a desire to restore its diminished power and prestige, towards which end it adopts a policy of militarist aggression and open imperialism, directed primarily against Latin America.Due to war damage inflicted on its economy and its weakened political position, the American Empire enters into a security pact with Japan, which had escaped World War III largely unscathed.One of the principal reasons the American Empire seeks the treaty is its desire to co-opt the "Japanese Miracle"; this technology makes the "Ghost in the Shell" universe's nuclear weaponry somewhat less apocalyptic in its implications than the real-world article, since the radioactive particulates created by an atomic event can be safely contained, reducing the weapons' deterrence potential.