Japan's Resurgent Militarism a Threat

The specter of militarism is rearing its ugly head in Japan, slowly but unmistakably. Japan, which started its military comeback on the international stage with the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces (SDF) troops to the Gulf War in the 1990s, has since stepped up arms exports, and more recently, opened the way for nuclear armament, at least legally. Now Tokyo is sounding out the possibility of allowing SDF to engage in military activities overseas if its allies are attacked, under the pretext of ``collective self-defense.”