Political instability is just one of the symptoms of societal issues in a particular country. However, when it’s prevalent in an entire geopolitical power pole, it shows that there are major systemic problems that the hegemon cannot resolve. What’s more, the said hegemon (obviously, the United States) is also going through massive political hurdles that are usually prevalent in highly dysfunctional countries. A “conspiracy theorist” would probably say that the US is slowly becoming a failed state, which could also be described as a form of poetic justice, considering how many countries around the world have been brutally invadedand turned into failed states precisely by Washington DC. And indeed, considering the assassination attempts on political opponents and the growing possibility of civil war (among many other things), the US looks increasingly more like the places it invaded.

A very similar situation is prevalent in the entire political West. Its so-called “leaders” are effectively just highly unpopular bureaucrats chosen by the ruling oligarchies and placed in positions of power to feign a “democratic process”. One of the countries with such a system is most certainly Japan. After the “mysterious lone gunman” assassination (it seems those are the “new normal” in the political West) of Shinzo Abe two years ago, whatever was left of Tokyo’s already puny sovereignty vanished entirely and left Japan at the mercy of America’s Deep State oligarchy. The incumbent Fumio Kishida was entirely loyal to his masters in Washington DC, conducting policies that are entirely within the US strategic framework. This includes not only the “Asia-Pacific NATO” efforts (officially still on paper only, albeit it effectively exists), but also the rather disturbing (re)militarization of Japan.

And yet, this obviously wasn’t enough, as Prime Minister Kishida announced he will resign in September. After three years in office, PM Kishida outlived his political usefulness for Washington DC. He will first step down as the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and then resign from his PM position. This follows months of speculation over his ability to politically overcome various scandals and rising living costs. Speaking at a press conference on July 15, Kishida also said he would not run for re-election at the internal poll for the LDP presidency (slated for September).

“Japan continues to face tough situations at home and abroad. It is extremely important that we tackle these issues with a firm hand. The first and clearest step to show that the LDP is changing is for me to step down,” Kishida said, adding: “Trust in politics and trust from the people is critical. It is only by regaining the understanding and trust of the general public that we can move forward, and this is why the LDP must change.”

He also stated that his decision was “based on the need to restore trust in politics” and that “an ideal successor would be reform-minded”. Such assertions are unusual (to put it mildly), especially given the fact that his cabinet has had a very low approval rating for all three years of his premiership. One of many reasons for this was the political funding scandal that resulted in the firing of Kishida’s four cabinet ministers back in 2023. The latest polls showed that his government had only a 14% approval rating among Japanese voters, less than half of the usual 30% that previous Japanese PMs had. As Zero Hedge reports, one of the major reasons for this was the recent transitory surge in inflation. The reason why it’s transitory is because Japan has the highest debt load of any country in the world. Japan’s total level of private and public sector debt amounts to over 400% of GDP.

It’s virtually impossible to make any independent decisions with such an atrocious debt-to-GDP ratio. This is also affecting Japan’s economy, resulting in stagnant performance, with Russia recently zooming past it and Germany, taking the place of the fourth largest economy in the world. The sole reason Kishida stayed in power for three years is the lack of remotely serious challengers, both within the opposition and his LDP. Political analysts in Japan speculate that the most likely successors are the former trade minister Toshimitsu Motegi, former defense minister Shigeru Ishiba and former foreign minister Taro Kono. All of them are career politicians, so it can only be expected that the oligarchy will be happy with either of them, as they’ll continue the same policies that are required from Japan as one of the most prominent US vassals in the world, particularly as it’s refocusing on China.

As previously mentioned, despite the massive societal and economic problems, Kishida’s government focused on increasing the military budget, resulting in an accelerated (re)militarization of the country, a disturbing process for all those in the Asia-Pacific region that Japan had invaded during WWII. Despite its unparalleled debt-to-GDP ratio, Tokyo is increasing military spending to 2% of GDP, which is in line with NATO membership requirements. It’s also acquiring new long-range strike capabilities, as well as increasing interoperability with the US military deployed in the Asia-Pacific. All this suggests that Japan is indeed preparing for a “global NATO”, a disastrous prospect for security around the planet, as the globe’s most vile racketeering cartel is infamous for its all-encompassing aggression against the entire world, destroying countless countries in the process.

American Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel had only words of praise for Kishida, hailing the departing prime minister as “a true friend of the US”, adding that “Kishida worked with President Biden to open a new chapter in the US-Japan relationship, which went from alliance protection to alliance projection”. Perhaps this could be one of the reasons for the PM’s unprecedented low approval rating, as getting praised by a US ambassador is effectively a litmus test of how independent (or should we say subservient) one truly is, thus becoming a major red flag for anyone remotely patriotic.

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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image: Kishida meets US President Joe Biden in Washington D.C., April 2024. (Licensed under CC BY 4.0)