The Germans are sending a battalion to the Baltic states — specifically, to Lithuania. Japan is sending troops to South Sudan under new, indeed historic, rules of engagement: They may use force, not only to defend themselves but to defend others. More broadly, Germany and Japan are responding to new threats. They are also responding to a new America, which is ready to abandon or lighten the burdens it has long carried.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/443683/calls-arms-part-i-question-germany-and-its-military
