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Much of Japan's reputation abroad is still heavily impacted by its actions pre- and post-WWII. China and South Korea are still at odds with Japan because they believe Japanese school books overlook the heinous crimes committed by the Japanese military during WWII. Yet, many other countries grew dependent on Japan following WWII. Following WWII and Japan's adoption of a more democratic constitution, it quickly gained some respect as a global aid donor and its booming car and technology industries made it a source of capital and credit for countries all over. Japan was able to make such a quick leap to the top following WWII thanks to the market bubble it could find in the U.S.; Japan maintained this productivity through its traditional social and employment hierarchies that have lead many people to work the same job their entire life. However, Japan's economic growth began to go in the opposite direction in 1990's with growing debt that multiple governments have failed to curtail. Currently, the population of Japan is rapidly aging, but the few young who are around are pushing for more Westernization and the Japanese government is even attempting to find a solution for its debt; not to mention, the Japanese government has made movements to amend the constitution to gain more military power in recent years.

Both Japan and France rank in the top 50 for Global Peace Rankings-- Japan 8th and France 48th. The biggest difference in their rankings comes from France's possession of heavy and nuclear weapons. The Japanese have limited possession of heavy and nuclear weapons as a result of the pacifist constitution they were forced to adopt following WWII which limited their ability to arm for war. Furthermore, France is involved in more conflicts and exports more weapons than Japan, which is also heavily related to the restrictions placed on Japan following WWII. However, Japan has a worse record when it comes to relations with neighbors which may be related to actions from WWII and rising tensions between Japan, China, and South Korea. Yet, perhaps unrelated to WWII and relating more to culture of society, France has a higher level of violent demonstrations and internal organized conflict than Japan. Japan has a homogenous population that has a main focus of work and a culture that accepts the social and economic hierarchy, but France has a more heterogeneous population with many disenfranchised groups that were once colonized that continue to face discrimination.

Article which talks about how the allies attempted to denazify Germany after WWII. There were significant differences in the intensity of denazification in the four occupation zones of Germany

Really interesting find, Peter, pertaining to one of our class conversations this week.

France took big hits in WWI and WWII from human and economic standpoints, so following WWII they became big proponents of European integration to build from the ground up. The Franco-German alliance has been a key to the integration of European nations since the 90's, but more recently they have been at odds over the austerity policies regarding France's recent economic recession. The French push for integration is quite ironic given France has more than 26 regions with several territories from its colonial past still belonging to France. Even with a rather diverse population, the majority of the French government is quite centralized with very little devolution of power. The voting turnout has not been very high because average French citizens feel like the power is in the hands of only the French elite. The French social and governmental hierarchy dampens the democratic institutions of France. Furthermore, the French don't only have a strong centralized government, they also have a powerful military and the second largest economy in the eurozone. Though the French struck down the proposed constitution of the European Union in 2005, current socialist President Hollande remains faithful to the European Union and German Chancellor Angel Merkel.

Before the British colonial government set up hospitals for native Nigerians, Catholic Missions not only set up hospitals but were responsible for the training and education of nurses while many doctors were educated in Europe. The British government set up hospitals but initially these hospitals were only for Europeans, It was not until after WWII that the British government tried to expand medical and hospital access to native Nigerians and medical education. After Nigerian independence a federal republic was set up and ownership of health facilities is distributed between the federal government, the states, and local governments. States hold the largest share of hospital beds at 43% and the federal and local governments at 13% and 11% respectively.

Japan is holding a state funeral for Shinzo Abe, the country's longest-serving prime minister, who was assassinated in July at a political rally. The event has sparked controversy, however, with a protest of around 10,000 people today in Tokyo after a man set himself on fire near the PM's office earlier this week. The pushback is associated not only with the cost of the funeral, at around $11 million, but primarily with disagreement around giving such a high honor to a relatively unpopular political figure. Japanese state funerals have been historically reserved for members of the imperial family with only one other politician receiving a state funeral since WWII, back in 1967.

This is disappointing but not unexpected considering the elderly conservative demographics of Japan now. Abe has so much on his record that should have disqualified him from such an honor. At his core, he was a war crime apologist. His government had Japanese educational texts redacted to gloss over the crimes of the Japanese Empire in WWII, including the crimes of his beloved grandfather, who was nicknamed "The Monster of the Showa Era". He denied that Japan exported "comfort women" for their soldiers from conquered nations, and pressured the victim countries into silence. He refused to recognize the Ainu people - the indigenous people of the Japanese isles - until 2019. He tried to remilitarize Japan to bolster nationalism, thankfully unsuccessfully. The Japanese people and East Asia as a whole will be better off with his apologist mouth shut for good.

The article I referred to in class today. Says a lot about how Germany's state has/has not progressed since WWII.

Missile defense discussions concerning Eastern Europe has sparked attention globally. France and Germany, who opened discussions with Russia, but not England or the US, is concerning to many countries that a shift in power in Europe to a multipolar region resembling that of WWII might occur.

This article provides information on the guidelines for Empire of Japan's surrender at the end of WWII as written by U.S. President Harry S. Truman Jr., U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chairman of the Nationalist Government of China Chiang Kai-shek. This article's main focus was highlighting the Potsdam Declaration as the forceful conversion of the Empire of Japan into a democratic regime, rather than monarchical regime, with more civil liberties for the people including, but not limited to, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of thought. This article also explains how the Potsdam Declaration caused Japan to open itself up to the growing democratic world and forced Japan to change or face destruction, leaving Japan very little choice in terms of regime. Furthermore, this article brings attention to the amount of military force that came along with the Potsdam Declaration. It is made clear that this was more than just a declaration by the Allied Forces, it was more of a threat to the Japanese to surrender on the Allied Force's terms or be utterly destroyed. Unfortunately, it is also highlighted that within less than a month of the declaration, the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

It's truly a waking nightmare in the RF right now; it has not been this bad since WWII. There's no way to encapsulate all the information in a comment like this, or even in an article like the one attached - that's just an overview. Russia is in a de facto total mobilization. There are no rules, every man 18-"50"(70) is eligible so long as the recruiters have quotas to fill. People are being detained and drafted at their jobs, homes, on public transportation and at the border. The number Vladimir Vladimirovich touted was 300,000 recruits; it's looking more like several million, from a nation of officially 140, believed to be 120 million people. Prisoners have been all offered freedom if they fight - no need to worry about the long term consequences after they come back. Needless to say society is in a state of collapse, but that does not at all imply the state is. The state is doing a-ok, barely bruised by the riots. State operatives will continue to perform their duties, because the second they slip up their replacements will send them to the front with the rest. What is Putin's goal? Who knows! The most sensible answer is that he's actually just having fun in his own degenerate way. I was born during the most democratic and economically promising period in recent Russian history. Putin and his court have brought it all the way here.

Your comment is powerful, Slava, and your inside perspective on Russia is so informative. Thank you for posting this article and commenting so thoroughly.