News Snapshot:
Here comes Japan. The country is reasserting itself as a major military power by moving to double its defense budget in five years and break the 1 percent barrier. That’s the level under which Japan has long held military spending, to 1 percent of its gross national product, the world’s third largest after the U.S. and China. The budget increase may not technically represent a shift in constraints imposed by Japan’s “no war” constitution, but it edges close by authorizing “defensive” missile strikes. The obvious targets would be China and North Korea, seen as existential threats. Scores of North Korean...
