I am worried about the clock. These are sober experts who run it. There’s lots of things which could lead to a war. The tension in Syria, Ukraine, South China seas and over North Korea. They believe it’s the most dangerous times since the Cuban missile crisis and I think it’s serious.

The US performs provocative military exercises outside the borders of Russia, China and North Korea. We have jets buzzing each other and having close calls.

Sober experts in unrelated fields. You can safely ignore their publicity stunt. Or not, and get stressed out.

During the cold war, things were much worse on a daily basis. It was so common that it was hardly reported on.

The presence of conflict does not mean war is at hand, or that we do not have peace. It just means that there are competing agendas between players with sharp elbows.

Those 3 countries are extremely belligerent, and now that the US is finally countering them instead of appeasing them is a good thing. Russia took over a big chunk of Ukraine, and we did nothing. China made a grab for the south china sea, attacking the Philippines, and we did nothing. North Korea is engaged in nuclear threats and proliferation.

These activities will cause other countries to take appropriate measures.

It makes perfect sense that Japan, seeing the recent spate of appeasement on the part of the US, would realize it needs to take a larger role in defense of its own interests.