After setting aside the Soviet Union, a transcontinental nation, Japan was the only great power in Asia. As a regional hegemon, it had very little that strong nations like East Africa found worthy of notice in terms of industry and technology.
The Imperial Japanese Navy and the Japanese shipbuilding industry behind it were relatively outstanding, but for a resource-poor country like Japan, resource shortages would undoubtedly drag down its naval strategy in wartime.
However, though Japan was backward and weak industrially, its importance in East Africa's global strategy exceeded that of many great powers.
That was why it, along with the Soviet Union, had been left for Crown Prince Friedrich to discuss last.
Crown Prince Friedrich said, "The current recovery in the world economy mainly rests on two aspects. One is greater state intervention in the economy, as in countries like the United States and Britain. The other is military-driven growth, with Germany and Japan as typical examples."
"But without question, these measures cannot completely solve the economic problem, and they will make the international community increasingly dangerous."
"To restore stability to the international community, the old international order must be broken and a new one established. To sum it up in one sentence: East Africa must be mentally prepared for the possibility of war."
Ernst stood before a world map, pointed at the Indian Ocean, and traced a circle through regions such as Australia, the East Indies, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East.
"This will be the core of East Africa's interests under the new world order. Around the Indian Ocean, East Africa is the only world power."
The Indian Ocean was a relatively enclosed ocean. So long as several strategic chokepoints were controlled, it could be sealed shut. The main ones were the Strait of Malacca,