But starting in 2012, Shinzo Abe, then the prime minister, began pushing for a new approach, one that he argued was more fitting for modern realities. Japan’s current prime minister, Fumio Kishida, plans to raise defense spending gradually to 2 percent of economic output, and the public reaction has been “remarkably sanguine,” Motoko says. The additional money that countries spend on defense is money they cannot spend on roads, child care, cancer research, refugee resettlement, public parks or clean energy, my colleague Patricia points out. One reason Macron has insisted on raising France’s retirement age despite widespread protests, analysts believe, is a need to leave more money for the military. Those other countries, sensing a more threatening world, are now once again promising to pull their weight.

---

Persons: Shinzo Abe, Motoko Rich, Fumio Kishida, ” Motoko, Patricia, Macron, — Organizations: North Locations: Japan, Germany, Tokyo, China, North Korea