Japan’s nuclear doublethink is getting harder to defend
It is getting harder to explain why nuclear weapons are indispensable to protecting Japan while simultaneously arguing that their possession is morally and politically unacceptable.
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Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told an interviewer that Tokyo must “discuss all policies, without any taboos” when it comes to nuclear weapons.
Bloomberg
Gearoid Reidy
Japan’s defence posture has long relied on doublethink. How else can you explain the nation’s ability to simultaneously be devoutly opposed to atomic weapons, while sitting safely underneath the US nuclear umbrella?
Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi faced those contradictions head-on recently when he referred to shifting attitudes towards such arms by countries like France and Finland. He told an interviewer that Tokyo must also “discuss all policies, without any taboos”.
