SOLOMON HUGHES recommends Sunjeev Sahota’s recent novel set in a trade union election campaign for its fresh approach to what unites and divides workers, but wishes the union backdrop was truer to life
At a time when East Asian military tensions have focused on the Korean peninsula, very little attention has been paid to the continuing militarisation of Japan by right-wing premier Shinzo Abe.
Japan is a key military player in north-east Asia both as a base for US military forces and for the much less well-known role played by its own Self-Defence Forces (SDF).
The SDF is in essence Japan’s military, although, according to Article 9 of the country’s constitution, which states that “land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained,” military forces are in fact illegal. Nonetheless, the SDF has around 310,00 personnel both regular and reserve and is equipped with thousands of aircraft, tanks, ships and artillery.
COLL McCAIL assesses the revelation that Britain is now outsourcing its surveillance flights over Palestine to US mercenaries
In the conclusion of his two-part article, PETER MERTENS reveals that while global military spending hits $2.7 trillion with European arms company profits soaring 1,000%, €1 invested in hospitals creates 2.5 times more jobs than weapons
In part one of his Berlin bulletin, VICTOR GROSSMAN assesses the economic and political difficulties facing the new Merz government — and a regrettable ruling-class consensus on the solutions



