LogFAQs > #979861570

It's a lot of pretty words, but what's the actions Japan can even take in this instance? As far as military defense, their constitution literally prohibits them from even having a military or using war as a means to solve international disputes, and while they do have the Japanese Self-Defense Force it's not exactly controversy-free. And considering it was Shinzo Abe who wanted to amend Article 9 to legitimize JSDF's existence, that's not exactly an endorsement you want to have.

Economically Japan is currently ranked 4th, having fallen just behind Germany last year, and to say that Germany is an exceedingly distant 3rd is an understatement. China's economy is nearly 4 times that of Japan's, and the US' is nearly 8 times larger. And while Europe is at least somewhat backed by being somewhat unified under the EU, Japan doesn't have nearly that kind of political leverage.

Like, I love the sentiment. It's fantastic to try and reassure the US that we don't have to follow the foreign policy we had in the 70's and 80's where we were one of two dominant superpowers, and someone had to take on the role defending against the USSR's aggressive expansion of their 'dictatorship under the cloak of communism.' But man, just from a sheer military and economic standpoint, it's hard to justify feeling like anyone else could even contribute meaningfully.