... Janes Defense writer Takahashi Kosuke cites retired admiral Kawano Katsutoshi saying that US presidential elections every four years and always unpredictable American public opinion raises fundamental questions about the constancy and reliability of US extended deterrence for its allies. Indeed, the longstanding strategic logic of US extended deterrence may have already been broken. As Asia Times has previously reported, China and North Korea may already have capabilities to strike the US mainland from bastions in the South China Sea or within their territories using highly-lofted trajectory launches – making it unlikely the US would retaliate using nuclear weapons in...