Modi at Hiroshima: Optics, Politics, Reality

M. K. Bhadrakumar Family photo of Prime Minister Modi (4th from left) & special invitees to G7 Leaders’ Summit, Hiroshima, Japan, May 21, 2023 Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visits abroad are carefully choreographed events, given their optics domestically. Perhaps, this is even more so today as general elections loom ahead and in Hiroshima, Modi was…

The USA Wants the Japanese and South Koreans to go to War with China

Bakhtiar Urusov The United States continues to strengthen Japan’s position as its main political and military “viceroy” in Northeast Asia. Is a war with China imminent by the hands of the people of Japan and the Republic of Korea? How do the citizens of these countries feel about it? Until recently, the escalating 2018 conflict…

G7 Desecrates Hiroshima A-Bomb Memory with Warmongering Summit

Strategic Culture Foundation Editorial The Group of Seven held a de facto war summit in Hiroshima, a place that is synonymous with the horror and evil of war. The United States-led “Group of Seven” cabal held one of their increasingly meaningless jamborees this weekend in the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The posturing of solemnity by…

The Splendor of a Thousand Suns: Hiroshima and Imperial Forgetfulness

Gonzalo Armúa Underwater atomic test carried out at Bikini Atoll in 1946. Photograph: United States Government Navy Joe Biden’s visit to Hiroshima in the framework of the G7 once again brings to the surface the cynical memory of an empire that 78 years ago unleashed the power of “a thousand suns” on a defenseless population….

North Korea Warns NATO is Creeping into Asia

Countercurrents Collective South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden at the NATO summit in Madrid on June 29. | KENNY HOLSTON / THE NEW YORK TIMES North Korea’s Foreign Ministry has claimed NATO is seeking to increase its influence in Asia, citing growing “military collusion” with Japan, which…

As US-China Tensions Rise, Japan Remilitarizes

Stavroula Pabst Responding to deepening US-China tensions over Taiwan and worsening geopolitical conditions internationally, Japan is remilitarizing, announcing in late 2022 that it would double its military budget by 2028. Namely, Japan illustrated plans to build military capacity in three key December 2022 documents: the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy, and the Defense Buildup Plan. While outlining new…

“Partners in the Blue Pacific (PBP)”: Who Are They and What Are Their Goals?

Sofia Pale In early February 2023, Washington unveiled the US Indo-Pacific strategy. The document repeatedly emphasized the importance of the informal group “Partners in the Blue Pacific” (PBP), established in September 2022 and composed of the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the United Kingdom. The purpose of the PBP is to strengthen relations…

US Escalates Military Tension with China

Valery Kulikov Tensions between the US and China, which have reached an intense level in recent decades, especially under Donald Trump, have continued to escalate with the arrival of the Joe Biden administration in the White House. At the same time, despite deep contradictions between Republicans and Democrats on most political and international issues (in…

Under the US Watch, Japan Sets Sail for Militarization

Salman Rafi Sheikh On December 16, Japan unveiled its new defence strategy aimed at giving a massive boost to the country’s defence and offence capability. This is arguably the largest defence upgrade that Japan has unveiled since the Second World War when it became a ‘pacifist’ state. As the new documents show, Japan is now…

Reckless U.S. War Games in the South China Sea

John Parker U.S. military exercises have come within 400 miles of China’s mainland in the South China Sea (called the South Sea in China and the East Sea in Vietnam). The provocations have increased year after year since former President Obama’s imperialist “pivot” towards Asia. Imagine if China had military exercises right on the doorstep…

Filipinos Don’t Want Their Country to Be Used As a “Launching Pad” for a U.S. War

Jeremy Kuzmarov Manila residents protest visit of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris to the Philippines on November 21. [Source: stripes.com] Mainstream media ignore voices of dissent as the Biden administration moves forward with plans to beef up already heavy U.S. military presence in Southeast Asia. On November 21, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris met with Filipino…

A Fascist Alliance that Threatens World War

Thierry Meyssan Capable of the Worst, the Union of Certain Rulers Makes World War Possible The Second World War can serve as a lesson to us. It did not appear in a serene sky. It was not a battle of the Good guys against the Bad guys. It was triggered by an unforeseen gathering of…

Japan in Africa

Oleg Pavlov On August 27-28, a conference organized by Tokyo and conceived as a Japan-Africa summit was held in Tunis. The intention was big: to hold the eighth edition of the event called TICAD (held since 1993) in such a way as to declare Japan’s significant activism in dealing with the development problems of the…

U.S. Presses Japan to Cancel Constitution’s Peace-Clause

Eric Zuesse China and Japan Must thus Finally Agree Now, to Avoid a War. The United States Government is pressing Japan’s Government to revise its 1947 U.S.-created Constitution so as to eliminate its clause (Article 9) that prevents Japan from invading any country. The clause asserts that: the Japanese people forever renounce war as a…

Protests Threaten Biden Administration’s Plans for a New Golden Era in U.S.-South Korean Relations

Jeremy Kuzmarov Protests in Seoul against THAAD missiles. [Source: defensenews.com] Protesters in Seoul demand withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea During his trip to the Indo-Pacific in May, U.S. President Joe Biden made his first stop in South Korea where he hoped to inaugurate a new golden era of U.S.-South Korean relations. South Korea’s…

The U.S. Pivot to Asia: Cold War Lessons from Vietnam for Today

Cynthia Chung In part one of this series, I discussed how a massive U.S. arms stockpile in Okinawa, Japan that was originally intended to be used for the planned American invasion of Japan was cancelled once the two atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. L. Fletcher Prouty, who served as Chief of Special Operations…

The Assassination of Shinzo Abe and Japan’s Military Expansion

Gary Wilson Shinzo Abe promoted the racist, ultra-nationalist organization Zaitokukai. Above, Zaitokukai members wave imperialist “rising sun” flags (a red ball with 16 red rays) during a rally in Tokyo. This is similar to waving Confederate battle flags in the U.S. The placard says ‘Koreans should be massacred.’ The assassination of Shinzo Abe, the former…

Washington Splits Asia in Two

Dmitry Bokarev The modern world is torn by contradictions: the US and its allies, accustomed to global domination, seek to maintain and expand their position at the expense of the interests of other countries, leading to crises and conflicts. In the Middle East, wars have been raging for decades, and in Europe, fighting has broken…