The Japanese government released its Defense White Paper this week, the annual assessment of the security environment and country’s response to it. It is a grim and dark analysis, warning with its opening line that the world “is now facing its greatest trial since the end of World War II.”
Disturbing though it sounds, it’s a reasonable conclusion. It is consistent with last year’s White Paper, and the world’s problems have only intensified in the year since it was published.
If there is a complaint to be issued against this year’s edition, it is its reluctance to fully address the impact of Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency. That reticence is understandable as a matter of diplomacy — Tokyo cannot afford to offend or antagonize its only ally. But we must hope that there is more than wishful thinking among Japan’s strategists and planners. The uncertainty emanating from Washington is no less concerning than that triggered by China, Russia or North Korea, the three countries identified in the White Paper as Japan’s primary regional security threats.
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