The Art of Diplomacy

Oberon · 12-26-13, 03:40 PM

David Frost, legend.

But yes, Schroeder has a point, the Art of Diplomacy never seemed to catch on in Asia did it? I guess Mao had a point when he said 'Political power flows out of the barrel of a gun'.
Well, Japan wants guns, big guns, and it wants to remove the 'Self Defence' from its military force. I can understand this, with the PRC becoming a more dominant force in the Pacific and Japan not so sure if the US is going to be there to support it if the PRC comes calling, although Obama is playing the right cards, shifting focus from the Atlantic to Pacific, calling the PRCs bluff, standing up to the DPRK, setting up shop in Australia, but Abe has his powerbases in the right wing revisionists who see the current Japanese constitution as a humiliation forced upon it by the United States and that Japanese actions in the Second World War were not as bad as they are made out to be, so he's going to exploit this as far as he can. I can see, before this decade is out, Article Nine of the Japanese Constitution will be in the dustbin...and to be honest, I'm not so sure what to think of that...on one hand it makes a good counter-balance to the PRC to have a remilitarised Japan, we all know that they are capable of punching above their weight with a fanatical manner...but at the same time, has Japan really learnt enough not to find itself going down the same path that lead it into war with the US again? The revisionist stance it has taken in recent years in regards to its own history makes me question that...

Interesting times, as the Chinese curse goes...

12-26-13, 03:40 PM	#14
Oberon Lucky Jack Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 25,976 Downloads: 61 Uploads: 20	David Frost, legend. But yes, Schroeder has a point, the Art of Diplomacy never seemed to catch on in Asia did it? I guess Mao had a point when he said 'Political power flows out of the barrel of a gun'. Well, Japan wants guns, big guns, and it wants to remove the 'Self Defence' from its military force. I can understand this, with the PRC becoming a more dominant force in the Pacific and Japan not so sure if the US is going to be there to support it if the PRC comes calling, although Obama is playing the right cards, shifting focus from the Atlantic to Pacific, calling the PRCs bluff, standing up to the DPRK, setting up shop in Australia, but Abe has his powerbases in the right wing revisionists who see the current Japanese constitution as a humiliation forced upon it by the United States and that Japanese actions in the Second World War were not as bad as they are made out to be, so he's going to exploit this as far as he can. I can see, before this decade is out, Article Nine of the Japanese Constitution will be in the dustbin...and to be honest, I'm not so sure what to think of that...on one hand it makes a good counter-balance to the PRC to have a remilitarised Japan, we all know that they are capable of punching above their weight with a fanatical manner...but at the same time, has Japan really learnt enough not to find itself going down the same path that lead it into war with the US again? The revisionist stance it has taken in recent years in regards to its own history makes me question that... Interesting times, as the Chinese curse goes...