NAGOYA -- For more than 400 years, Great Britain played the role of global offshore balancer. Believing that it had neither permanent allies nor permanent enemies, but only permanent interests, Britain avoided entanglement on the Continent. Shifting its weight as required to prevent any potentially hostile power from occupying the "low countries" on the opposite shore of the English Channel, Britain relied on global maritime power and astute diplomacy. This was an effective, low-cost strategy, which is why France called it "Perfidious Albion."
After World War II, the United States inherited Britain's role as global offshore balancer. Now that America is no longer tied down by countervailing Soviet power, it may be attracted by "Perfidious Albion" options. Yet Japan seems to be oblivious to this danger.
Currently, Japan is on bad terms with all its neighbors, and has territorial disputes with all of them. Moreover, unlike Germany, Japan emerged from the Cold War having failed to settle the issues of World War II with its neighbors. Japan also lives in a volatile region, as shown for example by North Korea's dangerous nuclear brinkmanship. Yet Japan's government is saying that, while it seeks to maintain deterrence, it wants a reduction of the "security burden" in Okinawa, and that it is necessary to remove some U.S. forces to "some other country."
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