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Volker Perthes
For Volker Perthes's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2015
What scenarios could unfold after the Iran deal?
Although the nuclear deal with Iran was a huge diplomatic success, the work is far from complete.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2014
Three timelines shaping Mideast developments
To shape an effective strategy in the Middle East, it is essential to understand three distinct timelines that are shaping developments: the short-term timeline of daily struggles, the medium-term timeline of geopolitical shifts, and the long-term timeline of sociocultural transformation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 13, 2014
Europe needs greater unity in multipolar world
One aspect of the Ukraine crisis that both Russia and the West need to understand is that the rest of the world appears to be relatively unconcerned about it.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 20, 2014
Syria could signal farewell to arms at Geneva II
The Geneva II conference on Syria, set to begin in Montreux, Switzerland, this week, is unlikely to achieve its goal of forming a transitional governing authority with full executive powers, but it could produce a ceasefire agreement between government and opposition forces.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2013
Banish the notion of a military solution in Syria
Some people now warn of a "Lebanonization" of Syria — its partition into quasi-independent regions — which could call the entire post-World War I Middle Eastern state system.
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2013
The changing map of Mideast political power
The eruption of the Arab revolts in 2010-2011 put power relations among Middle East countries in a state of flux. Both winners and losers have emerged.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2010
Is another war in the Mideast inevitable?
BERLIN — Fuad Siniora, Lebanon's former prime minister, is a thoughtful man with deep experience in Middle Eastern politics. So when he speaks of "trains with no drivers that seem to be on a collision course," as he recently did at a private meeting in Berlin, interested parties should probably prepare for unwanted developments. Of course, no one in the region is calling for war. But a prewar mood is growing.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2008
The right options for Iran
BERLIN — With U.S. President George W. Bush in Europe getting EU leaders to agree to toughen U.N. sanctions against Iran, and with the ongoing debate between John McCain and Barack Obama about whether the United States needs to talk with Iran's rulers, the issue of Iran's nuclear program is heating up. Iranians, no surprise, are watching this debate with interest. They need to do more than watch.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2007
Why not engage Iranian pragmatists?
BERLIN — The recent comprehensive assessment by America's spy agencies about Iran's nuclear program and ambitions — the "National Intelligence Estimate" — has opened the door to fresh strategic discussions among the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany. Such a strategic reconsideration is probably most necessary for those in the Bush administration (and a few elsewhere), who until recently have been prophets of imminent danger.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2007
Reviving the Mideast quartet
BERLIN -- Following the formation of a Palestinian unity government between Fatah and Hamas, and the Arab League summit that revived King Abdullah's peace plan of 2002, it is time for the so-called Middle East Quartet, consisting of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, to get into action. The quartet has been dormant since 2000, because any peace process requires negotiations between the parties in conflict.

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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