text: NORTHEAST ASIA ON TRACK FOR PROBABLE NUCLEARIZATION: In an interview with Singapore’s former permanent secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bilahari Kausikan, The Straits Times reported Japan and South Korea are on track to become “reluctant” regional nuclear powers. According to Kausikan, both Japan and South Korea have taken a lesson from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in that smaller countries without nuclear weapons cannot deter larger, nuclear-armed powers. Japan and South Korea are concerned with an expansionist China and are in the process of strengthening their military deterrence. Both have matured nuclear power generation technology and have begun development of missile and stealth technologies that they could quickly convert into nuclear weapon delivery platforms. (AC: Japan recently began acquisition of long-range land attack missiles capable of reaching strategic targets deep in China and has successfully tested an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile system. South Korea now hosts the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Anti-air Defense (THAAD) system along with its complex targeting radar. South Korea is also developing long-range stealth drones capable of operating in swarms and theoretically serving as an air delivered nuclear weapons platform. The U.S. on the other hand, has done little to increase its light force posture west of the international dateline, likely leaving Japan and South Korea with the uneasy feeling that they could be on their own against Chinese aggression. – M.M.)GERMANY EXPANDS MILITARY PRESENCE IN INDO-PACIFIC: Citing China’s “enormous build-up” of military force, German defense officials announced it would join other western nations in building allied military capabilities in the region. Germany announced increased deployments of military forces in support of multinational exercises in Australia and the deployment of a naval fleet to the region in 2024. (AC: The announcement reflects Germany’s 2020 Indo-Pacific strategy that focused on strengthening alliances with regional democracies but runs the risk of angering China, Germany’s top economic trade partner. Germany, like many of its NATO and EU allies, shows a renewed interest in the development of military and defense capabilities, boosting defense spending and taking a firmer stance against the rising Russia-China-Iran alliance. – R.P.)LOW INTENSITY CONFLICT INTSUMTempe, AZSize: TBDActivity: Antifa group, through Exiled Antifa on Twitter, coordinates counter protest against Jared Taylor’s speech on the campus of Arizona State University. Location: ASU Memorial Union, 301 E Orange St, Tempe, AZTime: 1830; Friday, 2 SEPSan Francisco, CASize: TBDActivity: Young Democratic Socialists of America plan a kickoff rally at San Francisco State University.Location: C-131B, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CATime: 1630; Thursday, 1 SEP— END REPORT