History Literature / DebtOfHonor

* TheAlliance: villainous example with Japan, [[spoiler:China, and India]]. Ultimately subverted in that [[spoiler:while China and India are happy to be silent partners of Japan, they [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere leave it high and dry as soon as it starts losing the war]]. Several characters at different points suggest that the Chinese/Japanese alliance was unlikely to last anyway, given the historic enmity between those two countries and the fact that they'll both be competing for the same territory and resources]].

* ApologeticAttacker: Sato apologises to [[spoiler:the copilot]] he kills before executing his [[spoiler:suicide run]].

** Early on, Ryan warns Durling not to press the Japanese too hard on the Trade Reform Act, citing Sun Tzu's advice that an enemy should always be given a way out. Durling refuses, with unpleasant eventual consequences.

* TheChessmaster: Yamata personally engineered [[spoiler:the collapse of the US stock markets and the leaking of the rape case against Vice President Kealty, in a bid to attack the political center of the United States, as well as the attack on US Navy warships during a training exercise and construction of nuclear ballistic missiles in order to prevent retaliation against his later objectives]].

** The plan to crash the US stock market is brilliant, using the carefully designed but easily exploited automated traders to bottom out the stock market and cause economic chaos in less than 4 hours. '''However''', the decision to then destroy the records for that period, by having the stock market records machines return garbage data instead of actual records, allows the exchanges to basically say "nope, didn't happen" and reset everything a week later, undoing the economic damage in short order. If they had just crashed the market, the plan would have gone off without a hitch.
** The plan to capture the Marianas Islands is equally brilliant, with the takeover happening so quickly and without chaos that most people are too stunned to react in any way, and also providing a buffer for any attempts by the US to try to attack Japan directly. '''However''', the action means that the Japanese Navy has a much larger area to defend, and when the defenses are compromised, the situation quickly becomes untenable.
** The decision to place their nuclear weapons in an isolated former lake bed means that the missiles are well-protected from any kind of attack, even by stealth aircraft, because the terrain dictates the axis of attack. '''However''', they fail to realize that [[spoiler: it's a]]''[[spoiler: former]]'' [[spoiler: lake bed, and that makes it vulnerable to indirect attack by flooding the valley.]]

* CorruptBureaucrat: Christopher Cook, who sells government secrets so he can get a lucrative job as a lobbyist. Comes back to bite him in the ass when he gets arrested by the FBI during wartime.

* CultureClash: A lot of emphasis is placed throughout the book on how, [[HistoryRepeats like back in 1941]], the inability of the Americans and Japanese to understand each other contributed to the disaster.

* DespairEventHorizon: Torajiro Sato crosses this near the end of the novel, after [[spoiler: his brother and son are killed in the war's final battle and has to fly defeated Japanese soldiers home from Saipan]]. In all his appearances afterward, he has an emotionless, mechanical demeanor. His despair and anger ultimately drive him to [[spoiler: plow a Boeing 747 full of fuel into a joint session of Congress]].

** Subverted with the news coverage of the repairs to the ''John Stennis''. The networks are persuaded to delay reporting that the ship has sailed until long after its departure; in fact, they go so far as to actively mislead viewers that the ship is still in drydock until it is in position to launch strikes on the Marianas.

** Golovko explaining during the start of hostilities that Ryan was a fool not to activate the *Thistle* commercial spying ring sooner[[note]]*which wasn't considered for a variety of reasons, but mainly because it's illegal for the US government, or its agents, to spy on a commercial business rather than a foreign power[[/note]] clues Ryan in to the fact that the war isn't being run by Japan's political institutions, but rather by its commercial leaders (though as the former officer that created *Thistle* explains early on, there's no real difference between the two). This results in drastically changing how Ryan prosecutes the war, as he realizes he's up against businessmen that he can easily mislead, and that all he needs to do is cause *enough* damage to the Japanese objectives to oust the Prime Minister that's dancing to the warmongering businessmen's tune. And also [[spoiler: assassinating businessmen is far easier and less politically dangerous than assassinating a head of state]].

* EveryCarIsAPinto: Inverted: real cars don't blow up in normal crashes, and the fact that this happened was a clue to a major safety defect in Japanese cars, or so various characters are led to believe, which was one of the major driving factors behind the Trade Reform Act.
* EvilColonialist: a rare case of this trope applying to nonwhite villains. [[spoiler:The leaders of Japan, China, and India are all plotting enormous territorial expansion into neighboring states (Japan and China conquering Siberia, India conquering Australia), in search of territory for their overcrowded populations and resources for their growing economies. Both the perpetrators and their enemies compare the plan to the imperialist rush of the nineteenth century]].

** The US news outlets were used to this extent. The Japanese believed that they had completely crippled [[spoiler:both ''Enterprise'' and ''John Stennis'', but ''Stennis'' was still able to conduct operations after some quick repairs, so Ryan used the news outlets against Japan to make them think that they had no carriers available when in fact they still had one.]] The news outlets eventually justify this by stating that they are, after all, ''American'' news organizations[[note]]Which is fallacious: a news organization's mandate is to ''report'' the news, not ''influence'' it. Commentary and analysis can be opinionated, but the ''facts'' are to be reported as ''facts''. It's a wonder any of the organizations manage to survive without significant backlash[[/note]].
** Also used against the Japanese during negotiations, where [[spoiler:Chris Cook is tricked into giving the Japanese delegation false information that is used to place them at a tactical disadvantage for another US operation]].

* GodzillaThreshold: To revive the US economy after the stock market collapses, the antitrust regulations are temporarily suspended.

** [[spoiler:Yamata's plan of wiping out the records of all stock trades past a certain point, intended to deplete the confidence of traders, ended up working against him when the US government fiats that, because there were no records, none of the junk trades in question happened and they can just "reset the clock" to before the collapse.]]
* HollywoodLaw: The price Jack sets for [[spoiler:becoming Vice President]] is a Presidential pardon for the crimes Clark committed during ''Literature/WithoutRemorse''. However, all of those crimes were violations of state law, not federal law, so Durling shouldn't have been able to meet that price. In order to be valid, the pardon would have had to come from the Governor of Maryland.

** Done on a larger scale when Clark and Chavez are tasked with neutralizing the E-767 fleet. Chavez uses a theoretically nonlethal weapon to blind - and panic - the pilots when the planes are on final approach, causing them to succumb to vertigo and crash while leaving no physical evidence behind. As an added layer of cover, shortly before the operation the FAA releases a safety bulletin on the aircraft, warning of an issue with the autopilot that could result in a catastrophic accident during landing. Undermined, however, however, by the unlikelihood of ''two'' aircraft having separate accidents within minutes of each other at the same airport.

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: An assassin shoves his target into traffic, causing him to become the victim of CarFu.

* BuzzingTheDeck: Near the end of the novel, US B-1 bombers buzz an Indian aircraft carrier and her escorts at near-supersonic speeds, causing damage to their superstructures, as a warning and show of force to prevent their moves toward annexing Sri Lanka.

* LeaveBehindAPistol: Subverted. [[spoiler:Yamata, with his plans un-done, asks his arresters to give him some time alone first. However, Koga, now Prime Minister again, explicitly gave orders that he be taken alive so that he could not escape from his punishment.]]

* NuclearWeaponsTaboo: Exploited by Yamata. After the events of ''The Sum of All Fears'', the U.S. and Russia destroy all their primary strategic platforms like [=ICBMs=] and missile submarines, leaving America no clear way to retaliate once Japan constructs her own version of SS-19 ballistic missiles. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for him, he didn't stop to consider that while the missiles ''themselves'' were removed and disarmed, the submarines were still sitting around in perfectly-usable condition and were still very much effective machines of war even without their missiles.]]

* YellowPeril: Sinister Japanese cabal, with Chinese backing, led by a vengeful businessmen who schemes to cripple the world economy and launch a new war of aggression. [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in that there's plenty of other non-Asian assholes in the book who make things complicated for the heroes, including several American politicians, and for the most part the general Japanese public remains mostly uninvolved.

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Chavez is ''physically sickened'' by the part he played in downing Japan's E-767's since it involved killing 60 people whose only crime was them doing their jobs as AWACS operators. When Clark tries to comfort him, Chavez says that it was his duty to carry out the operation, even if it weighs heavily on him.

* EndangeringNewsBroadcast: Torajiro Sato is a broken man at the end of the story. And then he notices a copy of USA Today, where the headline is showing that [[spoiler:the majority of the US government is gathering at Capitol Hill to swear Jack in as vice president]], and is inspired to take a course of action that will let him go out with a bang rather than a whimper.

* BackFromTheDead: Invoked by Clark. "Portagee" Oreza, who was retconned as being an old friend of John Kelly, is taken completely by shock when Clark shows up at his house more than twenty years after his "death" in ''Literature/WithoutRemorse''.

* YellowPeril: Sinister Japanese cabal, with Chinese backing, schemes to cripple the world economy and launch a new war of aggression.

* NuclearWeaponsTaboo: Exploited by Yamata. After the events of ''The Sum of All Fears'', the U.S. and Russia destroy all their primary strategic platforms like [=ICBMs=] and missile submarines, leaving America no clear way to retaliate once Japan constructs her own version of SS-19 ballistic missiles.

** The F-22A "Rapier" makes its first debut in the novel as a prototype, with only four of them available for use.

** The US news outlets were used to this extent. The Japanese believed that they had completely crippled [[spoiler:both ''Enterprise'' and ''John Stennis'', but ''Stennis'' was still able to conduct operations after some repairs, so Ryan used the news outlets against Japan to make them think that they had no carriers available when in fact they still had one.]]

** The whole point of the Trade Reform Act is that any nation that hits the US with unfair import restrictions can be faced with the same restrictions when exporting their goods to the US.

* ContrivedCoincidence: The ending of the novel [[spoiler:brings together most of the US government at a single time and place--something that is ''never done for exactly this reason''--so that ThePlotReaper can wipe them all out and catapult Ryan into the Presidency.]]

* RareVehicles: The F-22 Raptor and RAH-66 Comanche, which depending on how loosely one interprets the "around 1995" setting, may or may not have actually flown at the time of the novel.[[note]]The F-22 first flew in 1997 and the Comanche in 1996.[[/note]] Somewhat justified, as both aircraft are explicitly depicted as prototype, "the only ones in existence" planes, though it's notable that the novel has more Comanches taking part in the mission to Japan (3) than were ever actually built (2).

** A pair of improperly-galvanised fuel tanks explode when the cars they're in get into an accident, starting a series of events that lead to disaster. In a twist of irony, it was an ''American'' line assembly worker who noticed that there might be a problem but hesitated to act due to her junior position on the line and lack of experience.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Yamata's plan of wiping out the records of all stock trades past a certain point, intended to deplete the confidence of traders, ended up working against him when the US government fiats that, because there were no records, none of the junk trades in question happened and they can just "reset the clock" to before the collapse.]]
* HollywoodLaw: The price Jack sets for [[spoiler:becoming Vice President]] is a Presidential pardon for the crimes Clark committed during ''Literature/WithoutRemorse''. However, all of those crimes were violations of state law, not federal law, so Durling shouldn't have been able to meet that price. In order to be valid, the pardon would have had to come from the Governor of Maryland.
* HonestCorporateExecutive: George Winston, who would later play important roles in future novels, was first introduced in ''Debt of Honor''. He was the one who sold his controlling interest in his mutual-funds institution, the Columbus Group, to Yamata, allowing the latter to make his attack on the US economy. He later plays a major role in countering the attack.

** Jack remembering his wife's saying "if it isn't written down, it didn't happen", which inspires him to a solution for the financial crisis: since there are no surviving records of what stock trades happened after 12PM the previous Friday, they can just claim that the market closed early that day and use that as the start point when they reopen the market.

* EurekaMoment: Golovko explaining during the start of hostilities that Ryan was a fool not to activate the *Thistle* commercial spying ring sooner[[note]]*which wasn't considered for a variety of reasons, but mainly because it's illegal for the US government, or its agents, to spy on a commercial business rather than a foreign power[[/note]] clues Ryan in to the fact that the war isn't being run by Japan's political institutions, but rather by its commercial leaders (though as the former officer that created *Thistle* explains early on, there's no real difference between the two). This results in drastically changing how Ryan prosecutes the war, as he realizes he's up against businessmen that he can easily mislead, and that all he needs to do is cause *enough* damage to the Japanese objectives to oust the Prime Minister that's dancing to the warmongering businessmen's tune. And also [[spoiler: assassinating businessmen is far easier and less politically dangerous than assassinating a head of state]].

* BlackHelicopter: The Comanche is depicted like this: a helicopter so stealthy it can be used to assassinate major corporate figures in Tokyo and get away none the wiser.

* FairWeatherFriend: [[spoiler:China are quick to throw Japan under the bus once Yamata's plan starts unravelling.]]

* MoleInCharge: The Russians have turned the Deputy Director of PSID, the Japanese counterintelligence service.

** A pair of improperly-galvanised fuel tanks explode when the cars they're in get into an accident, starting a series of events that lead to disaster. One character who knows about ThePlan likens it to the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. For added sick irony, for all the furore they cause over alleged Japanese safety defects, the problem can be traced to a worker at an ''American'' factory who smelled a rat but didn't think it was worth taking a second look at and just let the defective fuel tanks be installed rather than giving them a thorough inspection.
*** The worker was a new employee on the production line, thought there might be a problem, and was debating calling the supervisor before an older worker basically said "get a move on, you're holding things up", instead of asking if she thought there was a problem.
** As mentioned above, Winston, who sold off the Columbus Group and unintentionally gave Yamata a vital foothold for his plan.
* VicePresidentWho: Invoked by President Durling when he [[spoiler:appoints Jack as his new vice president. He knows Ryan has no interesting in running for president and since there will be no major legislation he will have to cast the deciding vote for in the Senate, Ryan will be barely remembered. Of course, this is actually a gift for Jack since, after serving as VP, he can never be recalled to government service.]] Too bad it didn't work out that way.
* WeHaveBecomeComplacent: In chapter 27, the Secretary of Defence is terribly downcast because of the realisation that the budget cuts he's been putting the US military through out of the belief that there was no longer a need for a large force meant it was horribly overstretched for the crisis.

* IdenticalLookingAsians: Inverted; Clark and Chavez, who are American, are able to pass for Russian journalists in Japan. Though their Russian is very good.

* EurekaMoment: Golovko explaining during the start of hostilities that Ryan was a fool not to activate the *Thistle* commercial spying ring sooner[[labelnote:*:which wasn't considered for a variety of reasons, but mainly because it's illegal for the US government, or its agents, to spy on a commercial business rather than a foreign power]] clues Ryan in to the fact that the war isn't being run by Japan's political institutions, but rather by its commercial leaders (though as the former officer that created *Thistle* explains early on, there's no real difference between the two). This results in drastically changing how Ryan prosecutes the war, as he realizes he's up against businessmen that he can easily mislead, and that all he needs to do is cause *enough* damage to the Japanese objectives to oust the Prime Minister that's dancing to the warmongering businessmen's tune. And also [spoiler: assassinating businessmen is far easier and less politically dangerous than assassinating a head of state].

*** The worker was a new employee on the production line, thought there might be a problem, and was debating calling the supervisor before an older worker basicly said "get a move on, you're holding things up", instead of asking if she thought there was a problem.