The complicated US-Japan relationship | GZERO World with Ian Bremmer 

What's funny is that, as an analytics guy, I find that whenever there's something negative about Japan posted on RU-vid, there are very few, if any, Japanese commenters on them and if there are, they're rather neutral in tone. Now contrast that with content that's in any way negative towards a certain large neighbor of theirs, you will almost always get a ton of dissenting comments with poorly constructed sentences in every video decrying your stance. If you had to choose a country purely based on the ability to take a joke, I'd pick Japan hands down lol

There are so many people in the USA that were devastated when their jobs went to China. They are angry and Trump tapped into it. He is a good actor but he is all bluster. And only gets every one stirred up. He promised a lot but there was no follow through. It was nerve racking and I could hardly wait for his term to be over. Biden needs to get out and talk about the good things he has done. He is spending billions to re tool manufacturers which is a good thing, but most people don’t know about it. I would have Kamala Harris go out and stump for him.

I see your point. But all empires fall the US will also fall because its government is dysfunctional and it spends like a drunken sailor. This cannot be sustained and it will crumble on itself. China is the future and is an excellent candidate to lead the global into the next few centuries.

Well yeah, the power of geopolitics is all about power, money and control. I'd agree that Japan is America's most important ally in the 21st century. Japan is one of the six great powers in the modern era alongside the US, China, Russia, Germany and India. China is the biggest threat to the status quo and Japan has the experience in the past and has contained China on it's own during the Meiji Restoration in the early 1900s. South Korea is important, but it does not have the geopolitical impact and influence in the region that Japan has. (And I'm not talking about Kpop or entertainment) 50% of all Cars sold in India are from Maruti Suzuki. About 70% of all Cars sold in South East Asia are Japanese cars. Japan is also one of the main infrastructure investors in Indonesia, Phillipines, Thailand and India. (The biggest FDI in the region is usually from Japan, China, US or Singapore). US-Japan-India alliance is the ultimate China counter. That's also why the QUAD was made. India has better demographics and competitive cost than China. US has control of the global economic system. Japan has the industrial know-how the Automotive mass production could be weaponized to make military grade tanks, planes, ammunition. Article 9 is what kept Japan tamed, but not anymore. Japan will become a great military power again. But, this time on the side of the allies.

@@tz7710 I agree with your assessment of Japanese economic presence across the world. But have to point out some points you have made. First, Japanese experience. Japanese are in general not interested in the outside of the Japanese archipelago. Of course, Japanese diplomats and bureaucrats are really well-informed and competitive, but their superiority complex from their past experience of invasion and colonisation over some parts of Asia including China often makes them blinded to the reality. Japanese experience over China? well, it is hard to rely on, in my opinion. If their experience since the Meiji restoration has real lessons from history, why has their diplomacy to two Koreas so desperately failed? Second, Quad. the Quad is brain-dead because it has too many different voices within. I really don't know if there is any meaningful achievement by the Quad. Japan and India are in the same bed with Americans but having totally different dreams. My explanation of the Quad's braindead is that both Japan and India are not interested in containment but rather engagement, as we see their real behaviour. I'm not much sure about Indian case, but pretty sure about the Japanese. If you have a close look at Japanese expert who has advised and who are advising Japanese policymakers, someone like Kanehara Nobukatsu, the National Security advisor to Japanese former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, you will find that their real goal is not to form security architecture in Asia, but economic network to boost Japanese economy by exploiting American's security concern in the region. So the Quad is not working for containment of China because its two members are not interested in it. That's why American had to build AUKUS to replace Quad. Third, Japanese military capability. Sorry, it's fantasy. One of the best examples is, ironically, South Korean's reaction to Japan's military budget boost. First, Article 9 of the Japanese pacifist constitution is still alive. Even though LDP's lawmakers who allied with Shinzo Abe tried to amend it, the best thing they could do was to enact some laws to allow Japanese defence industry to export their equipment. No increase in military units, no increase in service personnel. South Korean did not oppose president Yoon's olive branch to Japan not because they thought Japan shares values with them, but because they now found that Japan could not be a threat to them in the foreseeable future. They have no capacity to do something. Japan has tried to build the finest military equipment like planes and tanks. But all the efforts were, for Koreans, seen as wasting budget and time to buy nationalist ego. And Japanese have only a small amount of ammunition, just as we have seen throughout the war in Ukraine. Were there any supplements of ammunition by Japan?? But, if you argue that Japan is one of the most important US allies, I fully agree with that. Not because of Japanese consultation, not because of Japanese military capacity, but because of Japanese geography. First, taking Japanese Archipelago is crucial for American to dominate all over the Pacific Ocean. Second, America's military presence in Japan allows the US to project their influence into the Indo-Pacific region incredibly easily. It's undeniable. And here comes why the Korean peninsula matters. The Korean peninsula is essential to protect Japan, and an independent sovereign nation-state in the peninsula makes a buffer room between two Asian great powers, China and Japan. Then, why aren't American leaders pushing Japanese to protect themselves and manage the complicated issues about the peninsula of hellfire, just as Mr Trump tried to do so in a sense? Because American leaders do not trust Tokyo 100%.

@@jwhan2086 “Don’t come at me Korea ”