On V-J Day, U.S. Pushes for a Stronger Japanese Military

By: Jack Detsch | FOREIGN POLICY | 

[F]ormer officials still aren’t sure that Japan has the capability to help out if a conflict kicks off farther away from home. That matters to U.S. planners because Washington wants to be able to count on Tokyo’s help … . But Japan has spent so many decades playing in front of the goal that some experts fear it can’t move much further afield. “They’ve had their own realignment within Japan to meet the challenge in the south because they themselves had a legacy posture for the Cold War,” said Randall Schriver… . “When you get farther away, it gets more difficult because they weren’t built for that.”…

Read the full article in Foreign Policy.