Now that Japan is a member of the Western side, Japanese leaders can't say no to America, and they are buying a lot of American fighter planes. Isn't this a violation of the spirit of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, which vows to never wage war again?
Unfortunately, many countries can't say no to America. If you can find it, I'd very much recommend Confessions of an Economic Hitman (link)
When the US strategy became to use Japan as a bulwark against the USSR, they immediately tried to get Japan to overturn Article 9. Luckily the Japanese public support for Article 9 has always been high enough that politicians haven't yet been able to completely get rid of it. So... they just cheat and ignore it sometimes.
As for Snowden, it's hard to say if he's happy in Russia. He was forced to be there. The US canceled his VISA as he was transferring through Russia, so the Russian authorities forced him to stay. Given his situation, he's not going to say anything to upset the Russians too much, so we can't know if him applying for Russian citizenship is just trying to make the best of a bad situation or his real desire.
Thank you for the link. It's a New York Times bestseller. As Greta said, everyone is thinking about changing the system. I'm interested in what Life Economy is. I live in a small room in small apartment and I no longer have space to store books, so I have no choice but to learn how to use e-books.
Thank you for mentioning Article 9. There are Article 9 groups all over Japan, so it cannot be changed easily. The situation was at its most dangerous when the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was the leader, but he was assassinated. The current situation is not so good either. The politics of the Liberal Democratic Party itself must be changed.
Snowden may have wanted to go somewhere else. The US revoked his visa so he has no choice but to stay in Russia. And we're not sure if he's happy. The problem is that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder is a good friend of Putin (Putin speaks German fluently) and doesn't care about being ostracized by the political world and society. So who is right?