For what it's worth, Soka Gakkai friends in Japan (where I am now meeting with folks) were mostly surprised by news of this new negotiation. It will be interesting to see the extent to which they're willing to dedicate energy to this electoral campaign. I'm hearing decidedly mixed responses.

Exactly. Pledges of adherence to norms, even if selective and hypocritical, are still much better than nothing. Arguably, they are the most that can be expected from great powers. Still very much worth holding on to.

Did the topic come up in your recent conversations in Tokyo?

Found out about this record thx to the discord, actually. It is indeed very enjoyable. They are clearly great musicians and have improved quite a lot since the ReinXeed days.

Btw, what do you think of the new Obscura released on the same day? Can we expect a review from you or someone else?