The new Cabinet of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori should start mapping out a grand design for Japan's national-security policies for the first half of the 21st century.
Mori replaced Keizo Obuchi as prime minister April 5, after Obuchi suffered a stroke and was hospitalized April 2. Obuchi's sudden collapse was followed by major political turmoil, since Japan faces an imminent Lower House election. The Liberal Party bolted the ruling coalition, in which it had served with the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito, and was replaced in the alliance by the Conservative Party, which was launched by a splinter group of the LP.
Political upheaval has not been limited to Japan, however. New presidents have been elected in Russia and Taiwan, and a parliamentary election was held last week in South Korea. The U.S. presidential election is scheduled for November.
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