Examining the latest developments in the Iran war and Japan’s re-invention as an autonomous player in Indo-Pacific security.

Reforms advancing through the Diet signal that the political consensus treating centralized intelligence as incompatible with Japanese democracy has been retired, opening up new avenues for intelligence cooperation with the West.

In an era of precision saturation attacks and resource restraint, missile defense will be defined less by the number of interceptors than by the coherence of the regional architecture behind them.

This week we examine the launch of a ‘major combat operation’ by the United States and Israel against Iran, the outbreak of all-out war between Pakistan and Afghanistan, China’s latest effort to turn the economic screws on Japan, Iceland looking to move up its referendum on EU membership, a hotter-than-expected inflation report in the United States, and Ukraine’s low-tech approach to shoring up drone defenses.

The recent Japan–Philippines pact is not simply about defense. It is about determining whether the most stabilizing elements of the old order can be salvaged via minilateralism and conventional deterrence. Failure means fragmentation, and ‘might’ eclipsing ‘right’ in the Indo-Pacific.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi heads into upcoming snap elections in a position of strength. However, good politics don’t always make for good economic policy, and Japan’s massive debt allows precious little room for error.

This week we cover missile deployments near Taiwan, a brewing water crisis in Europe along with a far more advanced one in Iran, and President Trump’s latest posturing over Venezuela.

A speech from new Japan Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi helps fill in the blanks on what the next era of Japanese foreign policy will look like in Ukraine and elsewhere.

Japan’s longstanding ban on arms exports has been slowly dismantled since the Shinzo Abe era, with the conspicuous exception of small arms exports. That may be about to change.

Japan’s annual China Security Report sees the zero-sum competition for and against the current international order only intensifying in the years to come.

Tokyo is taking another step away from its post-WWII pacifist tradition and toward greater defense industry integration with key partners.

The outcomes of an upcoming US-ROK-Japan trilateral summit could well determine the future alignment of one of the most important geopolitical dynamics of the Asia-Pacific region.

Japan’s new leader can expect to face ongoing hostility in East Asia and a warm welcome from India.

The Japan-South Korea trade dispute didn’t predate COVID-19, but it’s certainly making the pandemic’s economic impact even worse.

Historical animosities are devolving into a full-fledged trade war between key US allies in East Asia.

The Abe government has opted for a two-track approach to naval modernization: balance against China’s growing capabilities and escape the military constraints of Japan’s post-war constitution.

Japan’s massive rare earth mineral discovery could break China’s monopoly and recast bilateral relations between the two countries.