Fertiliser chaos triggered by Gulf conflict could send prices soaring and leave millions facing devastating hunger, writes DYLAN MURPHY
At a time when East Asian military tensions have focused on the Korean peninsula, very little attention has been paid to the continuing militarisation of Japan by right-wing premier Shinzo Abe.
Japan is a key military player in north-east Asia both as a base for US military forces and for the much less well-known role played by its own Self-Defence Forces (SDF).
The SDF is in essence Japan’s military, although, according to Article 9 of the country’s constitution, which states that “land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained,” military forces are in fact illegal. Nonetheless, the SDF has around 310,00 personnel both regular and reserve and is equipped with thousands of aircraft, tanks, ships and artillery.
Washington’s response to a downed jet shows a superpower still reaching for overwhelming force even as its wars repeatedly fail, says NICK WRIGHT
COLL McCAIL assesses the revelation that Britain is now outsourcing its surveillance flights over Palestine to US mercenaries
In the conclusion of his two-part article, PETER MERTENS reveals that while global military spending hits $2.7 trillion with European arms company profits soaring 1,000%, €1 invested in hospitals creates 2.5 times more jobs than weapons



