The suggestion that negotiations are still proceeding between Berlin, and Tokyo, for the purpose of inducing the latter to adhere to the German-Italian military alliance, is not without the bounds of probability, but whether they are likely to succeed or not is entirely another matter. One important fact stands out clearly. So long as there is about the Japanese position a degree of flexibility which would disappear once a hard and fast military alliance were definitely entered into, certain imponderables which at present operate in favour of the Japanese would be abandoned. Thus the opportunity of eventually reaching some better understanding between Japan, and the United States, and Great Britain would go by the board, fcr Japan would have entered into a very definite alignment the results of which might not be by any means favourable to herself, Not only that it would entail the acceptance of commitments which might prove a serious hindrance to Japan so long as her present struggle with China has not been brought to a successful conclusion, and while even then Japan might be able to afford naval assistance to the Rome-Berlin Axis it is by no means sure she would be able to give much of that. On the other hand the effecting of any such agreement would very seriously diminish the reluctance of the British Government to consent to that military agreement upon which Soviet Russia is so apparently keen, for it is quite obvious that with the extension of the area over which Great Britain would have to defend herself would come the desire for more adequate defensive means, such as the might of Russia would provide. It is dangerous to believe that Russia, by reason of recent purges, has a very much weaker army now than ever before. That she has lost a large number of experienced commanders is clear, but it is by no means as sure that she has sustained losses which cannot be and are not even now being repaired. A tripartite military alliance, as much against the Komintern, as it is against the Democracies, may be something with which Russia will be faced, and it is more than likely that she would face it with very considerable determination.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.