Japan’s likely new Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, will seek to amend the Japanese constitution to allow the country to use its military for non-defensive purposes. Combined with the material capabilities of the Japanese military and the perception that Japan glorifies World War II, the likelihood that Japan will be viewed as a regional threat is growing. Both domestic and international factors are pushing Japan to amend the Constitution. Domestically, as in Germany, there is a growing belief in Japan that World War II is long past, and the country should no longer act like a chastened nation. Regionally, Japan is [...]
Although both China and Africa were home to two of the world’s oldest civilizations, each dating back more than 6,000 years, China has only recently discovered the true value of Africa. China’s initial forays on the continent, during the 1960s and 1970s, were driven by political ideology and thus inherently limited in scope and duration. Today, the basis of the Sino-African relationship has evolved from politics to economics. “China explicitly stated that they were going to shift their focus away from ideology in 1996,” says Christopher Alden, senior lecturer in international relations at the London School of Economics. A major [...]
The shrinking water table beneath China’s northern plain is more than just a matter of concern to Beijing’s National Development and Reform Commission. It makes strategic planners in Washington nervous too because it increases the likelihood that the Chinese will have to import significantly more grain. Given China’s population of 1.3 billion and the rapidly growing urban middle classes with their rising taste for more western-style meat-oriented diets instead of traditional rice, this threatens to destabilize world grain markets, push up prices and lead to shortages, the Washington-based, internationally funded Worldwatch Institute has speculated. Water supply is becoming similarly stressed [...]
