This study investigates how the internal power struggle between the German Foreign Office and the Nazi regime dictated Germany's diplomatic approach to the Far Eastern crisis between 1931 and 1938. John P. Fox examines the institutional friction within the Wilhelmstrasse and the eventual subordination of traditional diplomatic practices to the radical ideological objectives of Hitler and von Ribbentrop. By analyzing primary diplomatic records, the author demonstrates how the transition toward an alliance with Japan signaled the total consolidation of Nazi control over foreign policy.

Historians recognize this work as a foundational analysis of the institutional collapse of the German Foreign Office under the Third Reich. Scholars frequently cite the text for its detailed examination of how ideological extremism systematically dismantled professional diplomatic norms.