lørdag 26. mars 2022

Will Ukraine invasion push Japan to go nuclear?

How could Japan ever contemplate getting nukes? It's a ridiculous idea. Japan is the only country in the world to have suffered a nuclear attack. Twice. Japan acquiring nuclear weapons is unthinkable. The people would never accept it. Right?

Right. Or so the story has gone for the last 77 years. But in the last few weeks one Japanese politician has started suggesting otherwise. He is Shinzo Abe, Japan's longest serving post-war prime minister. Mr Abe has begun saying loudly and publicly that Japan should, indeed, think seriously and urgently about nuclear weapons. What we are talking about here is a fundamental break with Japan's post-war commitment to pacifism - something enshrined in its post-war constitution.