author

 
 

Meta

Noah Feldman
For Noah Feldman's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 21, 2016
Russia's withdrawal is a win for Islamic State
By declaring victory before Assad has really confronted the Sunni militant group, Putin is saying that Russia is perfectly willing for Islamic State to remain in existence indefinitely.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2016
U.S. can afford to side with Iran over Saudis
The U.S. and Iran are once again plausible strategic allies after a decades-long estrangement — to the dismay of Saudi Arabia.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2016
The Islamic State group learns from the past
The Iraqi government's fight with Islamic State is just getting started.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2015
Obama and the limits of executive power
The failure of U.S. President Barack Obama to achieve three major goals in 2015 highlights the limits of presidential power.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 28, 2015
Terrorists with assault rifles rewrite the script
The San Bernardino massacure has erased the conceptual line distinguishing domestic mass shootings from acts of Islamic terrorism in the minds of Americans.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2015
One God for Christians, Muslims and Jews?
If Christians and Muslims don't worship the same God, then neither do Christians and Jews.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 21, 2015
Japan's married-name law isn't just about names
The Supreme Court's ruling on surnames raises a fascinating question: How much should a constitution reflect the distinctive values of a society and how much should it express universal rights?
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 7, 2015
Yuan move good for China's politics
President Xi Jinping will now have to demonstrate that China's unique system of governance can produce the degree of stability and predictability in transition that characterizes the other regimes in the elite currency reserve group.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 23, 2015
China warning Taiwan voters on independence
As China expands its regional military influence, its interest in keeping Taiwan from straying toward independence is greater than ever.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 25, 2015
Putin's play: setting up Assad to sell him out
Vladimir Putin is looking for leverage with the West, and Syria is one place where Russia could help the U.S. and Europe achieve a necessary objective — an end to the civil war.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 8, 2015
Beijing sending mixed signals with its military
There are risks associated with a U.S. containment policy aimed at China. But the risks associated with non-containment are greater.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2015
Oil is Islamic State's lifeblood
A key to defeating the Islamic State militant group is preventing it from gaining control of lucrative oil fields.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 24, 2015
How IS pushes Egypt toward chaos
The Egyptian government should be very careful about attempting to associate Islamic State terror with the Muslim Brotherhood.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2015
Why Islamic State makes the Taliban nervous
The Taliban want to avoid a situation in which, having won their long war against the U.S. and its Afghan puppet regime, they have to fight another civil war against an Islamic State offshoot.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 20, 2015
It's alright for Japan to fudge the Constitution
A constitution must be interpreted pragmatically, to serve the nation's interests and help it avoid existential threats.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 15, 2015
Blame George W. Bush for the rise of Tehran
Iran's rise wouldn't have been possible had not the U.S. invaded the regional power that did the most to contain it: Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2015
Obama's new Iraq strategy: don't lose Baghdad
Rather than seek the defeat of Islamic State, Obama will limit U.S. military involvement in Iraq to a level sufficient to keep the militant group from taking Baghdad while he's in office.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 21, 2015
China's the reason why U.S. needs the TPP
The Trans-Pacific Partnership will make the U.S. stronger in the cool war it's waging with China.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2015
Dark days ahead for Turkey?
The AKP's setback in Sunday's Turkish elections make make President Recep Tayyip Erdogan more autocratic, not less.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2015
Why Beijing now puts up with Pyongyang's nuclear nuttiness
In the current 'cool war' environment, China sees North Korea's belligerence as a useful tool to be used against the U.S.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores