April 27, 2026 — Reminders and Re-Emergence
Don’t miss this week’s blog post by IP attorney, author Timothy Trainer, host of the podcast and video show Tim’s Travails • Follow Tim on Substack
Global hotspots, flashpoints for new violence and wars, seem to be everywhere as we look at the latest news of the world. There are numerous conflicts like those in Africa that do not attract as much U.S. media attention and, therefore, seem non-existent to most people in the U.S. Global Conflict Tracker | CFR Interactives.
Two countries are on the verge of re-emerging as future military powers. They have the technological capabilities to be immediate “players” on the world stage in the production of the most lethal weapons.
Japan’s recent reassessment of the global situation, including the retreat or unreliability of the U.S. as a security guarantor, has resulted in change to policies. Japan has announced that it has loosened its previous limits on exports of military hardware. Japan opens door to global arms market with overhaul of defence export rules | Reuters.
With China, North Korea and Russia as neighbors, Japan realizes the need to upgrade its military capabilities and sees the need to help regional neighbors. Japan and its regional neighbors confront a more aggressive China as conflicting claims to islands in the region are constant flashpoints. Ironically, the Philippines, a country that suffered devastating destruction at the hands of the Japanese military during World War II, now welcomes changes to Japan’s policies.
Japan’s change in policy means future exports of naval vessels, missiles and other high-tech military weapons. Earlier this month, Australia entered into a contract for numerous naval vessels that will be manufactured and delivered by Japan. Australia’s A$20 Billion Mogami Frigate Deal With Japan Creates Powerful New Indo-Pacific Naval Alliance – Defence Security Asia.
As Japan’s evaluation of the regional and global situation dictates the need for change, it’s important to remind ourselves that Japan and Russia have never officially ended World War II. There is nothing to suggest this state of affairs will change in the immediate future as bilateral relations remain cool due to Japan’s opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia sees no reason to discuss peace with Japan, the Kremlin says | Reuters.
In Europe, Germany is also responding to the everchanging winds of geopolitics. Russia’s war with Ukraine and, more recently, the whiplash caused by Trump’s statements about NATO and his questionable commitment to European security are cause for concern and reassessment. The Guardian view on Germany, Japan and the end of the postwar order: as US alliances crumble, a new world emerges | Editorial | The Guardian.
Apparently, Germans view Donald Trump’s verbal attacks on NATO and Europe as equally threatening to European and German security as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Efforts to understand German sentiment through focus groups find that two-thirds agree that “when in doubt, we can and should no longer rely on military assistance from the U.S.” Germany’s Rearmament Is Stunning | Washington Monthly.
The current German Chancellor took steps immediately to change the constitution in order to allow the government to borrow more for weapons and ammunition. In addition, a new conscription law went into effect at the beginning of this year to significantly increase the number of active duty and reserve German soldiers. Military service returns to Germany: we outline the most important rules.
As the United States projects an image as an unreliable ally, injecting instability in global affairs, it is not surprising that countries reassess. What is significant is that two former. ful countries that pursued pacifist policies for 80 years loosenmilitarily power limits and restrictions that had been in place for decades. Japan and Germany have the industrial capabilities to introduce high-tech, sophisticated weaponry into the world’s weapons supply chain.
The re-emergence of these two countries may contribute to some stability in Asia and Europe. While we can only hope that these two countries will help keep situations stable and deter wars and violence, their military build-up should be viewed as a failure of the global environment that allowed them to remain committed to their more pacifist policies for the past 80 years. Unfortunately, given recent U.S. actions, threats, and statements regarding allies and security pacts, the United States shoulders the blame for the deterioration of the global environment that forces these two countries to rearm themselves.
Tim in Washington, DC • Photo by AnnaGibbs.com
About the Timothy Trainer: Writing books is a passion for attorney Timothy Trainer, who for more than three decades focused on intellectual property issues in his day job. He has worked in government agencies and in the private sector, and his assignments have taken him to 60 countries around the world.
Tim found time to pen a few non-fiction tomes, including his first book, Customs Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights; the 15th edition was published in 2022. Thomson Reuters’ Aspatore Books published Tim’s next title in 2015, Potato Chips to Computer Chips: The War on Fake Stuff.
Fiction was a genre he always wanted to try. In 2019, Pendulum Over the Pacific, was released by Joshua Tree Publishing. “This political intrigue story is set in Tokyo and Washington, D.C., and centers on trade tensions between the U.S. and Japan in the late 1980s,” Tim explains.
In 2023, his first series hit bookstores: The China Connection.
In 2025, he published the sequel, The China Factor, which ranked #63 on the Amazon Asian Literature list in May.
Click here to learn about all of Tim’s books.
