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Marc Champion
For Marc Champion's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Modern advances in the production of missiles and drones such as those used by the Houthis have democratized extremely powerful weapons that until recently were available only to the richest states.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2024
The Houthis school the world in asymmetric warfare
Advances in missile and drone production have democratized extremely powerful weapons that until recently were available only to the richest states
Palestinians carry bags of flour they grabbed from an aid truck in mid February near an Israeli checkpoint as Gaza residents face crisis levels of hunger amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2024
Getting more aid to Gaza shouldn’t be this difficult
Adding avoidable deaths through hunger and disease in Gaza to an already high fatality toll is good for no one but extremists.
Remember, Vladimir Putin ridiculed the idea that he would invade Ukraine, right up until he ordered close to 200,000 troops over the border.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2024
Would Putin stop if he wins in Ukraine? Let’s not find out.
Just because the Russian leader is a serial liar doesn’t prove he is being untruthful now.
Palestinians help an injured man in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2024
The Gaza war isn't a Holocaust, but it's still a nightmare
There are, sadly, many examples in history of the kind of conflict under way in Gaza, and the Holocaust isn’t one of them.
Alexei Navalny, who Russian authorities say died on Friday, attends a 2019 rally in Moscow with his wife, Yulia Navalnaya (right), in memory of murdered dissident Boris Nemtsov.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2024
Navalny was too brave to be allowed to live
Alexei Navalny never stopped speaking truth to the powers of Russian despotism. His fearlessness was simply too much for the Kremlin to bear.
U.S. television host Tucker Carlson interviews Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in on Feb. 6. Carlson was criticized for failing to challenge the Russian leader on much of what he said.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2024
Putin interview showed why he really invaded Ukraine
Tucker Carlson lobbed questions to help the Russian president serve up his usual string of half-truths and outright falsehoods about the war in Ukraine.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (third from left) visits a navy base in Bandar Abbas, southern Iran. U.S. President Joe Biden is being urged to attack Iran directly, but that may not be the right solution.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2024
Biden’s air strikes won’t work, nor would hitting Iran
Deterrence, especially as it pertains to air strikes, isn’t only about what U.S. does, but also what Iran thinks.
Ukrainian officials inspect a Russian cruise missile shot down near Kyiv in January 2023.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2024
U.S. preeminence is threatened by a real 'missile gap'
The U.S. isn’t just being tested politically. Its military dominance also is in question, partly due to overextension.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands inside an enclosure for defendants during a court hearing on espionage charges in Moscow on Oct. 10.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2024
Remember the world’s political prisoners. One could be you.
Hostage diplomacy and arbitrary arrests by autocratic governments are a growing threat.
Hamas leader Yehia Sinwar addresses an anti-Israel rally in Gaza City in May 2021.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 8, 2023
Can the governments that grew Hamas destroy it?
This is a war in which Hamas, designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and E.U., need only survive to win.
Palestinians flee northern Gaza on Sunday as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave amid the ongoing conflict. 
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 16, 2023
Where is outrage against Hamas over Gaza’s death toll?
Palestinian deaths weren’t a bug in Hamas' plan but an essential part of it.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, make a toast during a reception at the Kremlin in March.  
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2023
Xi and Putin think they’re winning — and maybe they are
China and Russia's actions are contributing to an emerging Cold War and aligning other powers against the U.S. and its allies in Europe and Asia.
Protesters on Thursday held a rally in the Armenian capital Yerevan urging the government to intervene in the Nagorno-Karabakh region after Azerbaijani forces entered the enclave earlier this week.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 2023
Azerbaijan may have won the war, but a bigger test begins
The strength of a cease-fire and peace talks over Nagorno-Karabakh will be tested by Azerbaijan's commitment to a true, long-term transition.
When Russia invaded Ukraine, Kyiv turned to the world’s richest human, Elon Musk, as he was likely the only person on the planet capable of providing the communications it needed.
COMMENTARY
Sep 21, 2023
Elon Musk has power in Ukraine. Does he know how to use it?
When Russia invaded, Ukraine turned to Elon Musk because he was probably the only person on the planet capable of providing the communications it needed.
The remains of a missile that dropped cluster bombs at a housing complex in Sloviansk, Ukraine
WORLD
Aug 18, 2023
Unexploded missile suggests Moscow is rushing weapons to the front
The discovery adds to other evidence that Moscow is under pressure to fire missiles as soon as they roll off manufacturing lines.
Women and children fleeing Ukraine gather in Przemysl train station on March 2, 2022.
WORLD
Jul 24, 2023
Ukraine needs its women back for a shot at economic recovery
Failure to persuade any of the 2.8 million working-age women who have fled the country to return would cost Ukraine 10% of its annual prewar gross domestic product.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 7, 2023
Shift in balance of arms in Ukraine underscored by fresh data
Figures suggest that Ukraine’s tank fleet has grown since the start of the invasion last year, even as Russia’s has halved.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 30, 2023
Wagner’s exit from Ukraine won’t radically alter the war’s course
Ukraine confirmed on Wednesday that Wagner troops were no longer fighting at the front, replaced by a mix of paratroopers and inexperienced regular troops.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 9, 2023
Ukraine’s new tanks are seen in action as counteroffensive gets underway
It remains unclear whether the Ukrainian operations are the spearhead of a main attack or efforts to expose weak spots in Russian defenses, according to one European official.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 19, 2023
Russia is adapting arms and tactics ahead of Ukraine offensive
Widespread perceptions of Russian army weakness are in some cases either out of date or misconceived.

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A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world