Strategically, however, Japan faces simultaneous pressure from several directions: China to the southwest and west;North Korea to the west;Russia to the north. This helps explain why Japan's defense, maritime, energy and resource policies are increasingly converging.

Maine itself now says that improper payments identified through federal Payment Error Rate Measurement audits must be reimbursed to the federal government, while the state can seek recoupment from providers when provider error caused them. That's what happens after the money has gone out.

Treasury's success should eventually be measured not simply by how much Iranian commerce it can stop but by whether financial access can be exchanged for meaningful changes in Iranian behavior.