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May 03, 2024
 

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Ramzy Baroud

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Ramzy Baroud
For Ramzy Baroud's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2014
Whitewashing the Iraq war
As Iraq stands on the verge of a complete breakdown into sectarian states, a former leading Iraq war advocate is popping up in the U.S. media, and he's in no mood to accept any responsibility for the protracted tragedy.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2014
Sectarian monster reawakens
The systematic political marginalization of Iraq's Sunni communities demands the establishment of a new political and social contract to re-order the mess created by the U.S. invasion and Iran's intervention.
COMMENTARY
May 16, 2014
Media's one-sided Yemen spin
According to the Western narrative, Yemen exists for one purpose and nothing else: maintain Western interests in that part of the world. When these interests are threatened, only then does Yemen matter.
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2014
Palestinian accord elicits refrain of hope and gloom
Scenes in Gaza tell of much hope and rejoicing over the unity accord between Fatah and Hamas, but it is a refrain of past agreements that have failed.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 8, 2014
U.S. empire beyond salvation
For 25 years, the U.S. has tried to police the world for its own interests and failed. Now, it can't even cut and run from Iraq and Afghanistan because it is too deeply entrenched in the Middle East.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2014
Iraq near implosion as 'bad years' come back
Iraq's 'bad years' seem to be making a comeback, and this time the U.S. has little leverage over Iraq to control events from afar.
COMMENTARY
Jan 17, 2014
The whitewashing of Sharon
Ariel Sharon, the late former Israeli prime minister, was not called the 'the Bulldozer' for being a fearless leader. Nor do Arabs call him 'the Butcher of Beirut' for simply overseeing the invasion of Lebanon.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2013
A terrible year for Syria and Egypt
Even with the most optimistic assessments, the Syrian conflict is unlikely to be settled in 2014. As for Egypt, nearly 20,000 people have been sentenced or are now facing trials for belonging to or supporting the 'wrong' political camp.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 29, 2013
The sectarian war at hand: redrawing the Mideast again
Groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, a powerful component of Syria's savage war, could not have moved with such ease if it had not been for the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2013
Yemen teeters between hope and division as tensions rise
Uniting a Yemeni 'homeland' around similar ideas while rebellion brews in the north, a secessionist movement builds in the south and a U.S. drone war carries on is no easy task.
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2013
Selective rights, illegal wars
One cannot help thinking these days that the legal, political and even moral blind spots that exist in the United States must always somehow involve Muslims.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 8, 2013
U.S. imagination goes wild regarding Iranian 'threat'
Reading the text of a bill that was recently signed into law by U.S. President Barack Obama would instill fear in the hearts of ordinary Americans.
COMMENTARY
Dec 7, 2012
Rerun of Palestinian history?
Palestine became a "nonmember state" at the United Nations on Nov. 29. The draft of the U.N. resolution beckoning what many perceive as a historic moment passed by a huge majority of General Assembly members: 138-9, with 41 abstentions.
COMMENTARY
Aug 9, 2012
Neocons back on the warpath
The neoconservatives are back with a vengeance. While popular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and other Arab countries had briefly rendered them irrelevant in the region, Western intervention in Libya signaled a new opportunity. Now Syria promises to usher a full return of neoconservatives into the Middle East fray.
COMMENTARY
Jul 27, 2012
Syria's Palestinian refugees strive in vain for neutrality
"Flames are quickly approaching Yarmouk (as) someone is trying to drag the Palestinians into the fire," Palestinian observer Rashad Abu Shawar was quoted as saying in the Israeli Jerusalem Post, July 20.
COMMENTARY
Jul 16, 2012
A Camp David moment with Egypt
Despite early assurances by Egypt's new President Mohamed Morsi regarding his "commitment to international treaties and agreements," one can already foretell a confrontation between Egypt and Israel.
COMMENTARY
May 1, 2012
Hands behind Sudan's war
Once again Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir waved his walking stick in the air. Once again he spoke of splendid victories over his enemies as thousands of jubilant supporters danced and cheered. But this time around the stakes are too high.
COMMENTARY
Apr 12, 2012
Blame West for Mali's mess
The intentional misreading of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 resulted in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's violent, though predictable, Operation Odyssey in Libya last year. Not only did the action cost many thousands of lives and untold destruction; it also paved the way for perpetual conflict — not only in Libya, but throughout the North African region.
COMMENTARY
Mar 27, 2012
Bizarre logic of America's 'freedom' campaign
The Afghans are a proud people with a long and formidable history of resistance to foreign occupation. The fact that they have always prevailed should not distract from the horror they still routinely experience.
COMMENTARY
Mar 6, 2012
Hamas' perilous maneuvers
Despite all of Hamas' assurances to the contrary, a defining struggle is taking place within the Palestinian Islamic movement. The outcome of this struggle — which is still confined to polite political disagreements and occasional intellectual tussle — is likely to change Hamas' outlook, if not fundamentally alter its position within a quickly changing Arab political landscape.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
Saudi Arabia steps up Gaza-related arrests as Israel ties edge closer
The arrests for Gaza-related posts indicate Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s regime will take a hard line against citizens not toeing the line when it comes to normalizing ties with Israel.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

Podcast

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[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

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By Alex K.T. Martin

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