Deutsche Welle
December 16, 2022
Japan approves a historic new military build-up
Japan on Friday approved a new national security strategy – one of the country’s largest defense shake-ups since World War II.
This is a marked shift from the country’s pacifist approach [sic], which has dominated its political discourse for decades.
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The cabinet approved three documents which outlined the strategy shift – the National Security Strategy (NSS), the National Defense Program Guidelines, and the Mid-Term Defense Program.
The move will now ramp up Japan’s security expenditure from 1% of GDP to NATO’s standard of 2% of GDP by 2027.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Friday said that Japan’s goal to increase defense investments would “strengthen and modernize the US-Japan alliance.”
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the move showed “Japan’s staunch commitment to upholding the international rules-based orderand a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
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Japan…
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Calculus of Decay 