On July 20th, the people of Japan decided to keep the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in power albeit with populist reservations. After a series of scandals, the LDP was in dire straits, but managed to keep a plurality of seats alongside its coalition partner the Komeito. Populist parties such as the Democratic Party for the People (DPP) and the Sanseito made strides in the polls while traditional opposition parties such as the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) and the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) stalled. The Sanseito however was mired by a scandal just days before the election, having a candidate participate in an interview with Russian-owned media outlet Sputnik without party authorization. Russia was also shown to have been interfering with the election through social media as well. How Japan navigates these issues will ultimately determine the future of the LDP, CDP, JCP, and other parties' futures.

With Russia's invasion of Ukraine stretching out far past its beginning phase, Russia has now reached out to other actors for assistance. Without a general mobilization, Russia cannot keep its current manpower in the field, so it has reached out to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for manpower and weapons. It has also reached out to China for weapons and munitions, most notably creating a drone lab within China to produce new types of drones for the frontline. These new diplomatic relations are seemingly forming Russia's diplomatic relations into a new hub and spokes type system, very reminiscent of the United States in Asia, creating a new, more decentralized threat which the US must be very cautious to interact with.