Brad Glosserman - The Japan Times

COMMENTARY

Aug 20, 2002

The recent meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum, or ARF, the Asia Pacific's premier track for security dialogue, has been applauded as a watershed for the institution -- and rightly so. The group's pledge to fight international terrorism breathed new life into the forum. But the real significance of this...

COMMENTARY

Aug 10, 2002

The danger of good intentions

HONOLULU -- After a year and a half of gradual improvement, relations between the United States and China appear to be taking a turn for the worse. Two recent U.S. reports sharply criticize U.S. policy toward China and have earned equally sharp criticism from Beijing in return. While we shouldn't overestimate...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Jul 21, 2002

Flawed assumptions that courted disaster

PEACE, POWER AND RESISTANCE IN CAMBODIA: Global Governance and the Failure of InternationalConflict Resolution, by Pierre P. Lizee. Macmillan/St. Martin's Press, 2000, 206 pp. (cloth) According to the famous dictum, war is the continuation of politics through other means. Is the reverse true? Is politics...

COMMENTARY

Jul 18, 2002

Terrorism exacts a high price

HONOLULU -- The war on terrorism will be with us for a long time; honest observers admit the fight will never end. New technologies have permanently altered the balance of power between states and individuals. It is just too easy to commit terrorist acts. The rising number of incidents and the increasing...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Jul 7, 2002

Japan's diplomatic balancing act

JAPANESE FOREIGN POLICY IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC: Domestic Interests, American Pressure and Regional Integration, edited by Akitoshi Miyashita and Yoichiro Sato. Palgrave, 2001, 208 pp., $40 (cloth) Japan is frequently criticized for "punching below its weight" in international affairs. That is another...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 25, 2002

Nuclear taboo remains strong

Recent comments by leading Japanese politicians have raised international concern about Tokyo's nuclear intentions. Those fears are misplaced: Japan's nuclear taboo remains as powerful as ever. The comments do signal growing frustration within Japan's policy community over the need for a long-delayed...

COMMENTARY

Jun 20, 2002

Asian caveat on U.S. moves

HONOLULU -- The United States continues to make the war against terrorism its top priority. To keep the world focused on the battle, it is focusing on Southeast Asia, opening what some call "a second front" in the region. This agenda makes sense in Washington, but its single-minded focus could undermine...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Jun 2, 2002

New threats to East Asian security

EAST ASIA IMPERILLED: Transnational Challenges to Security, by Alan Dupont. Cambridge University Press, 2001, 336 pp., $25 (paper) The way we think about national security is changing. Traditionally, the idea of protecting a nation focused on military contests over power, wealth or territory. Not surprisingly,...

COMMENTARY

May 22, 2002

Asylum policy the real scandal

HONOLULU -- Japan is indulging in righteous indignation over the incident involving North Koreans who tried to take refuge in the Japanese consulate in Shenyang, China, earlier this month. Targets of the mounting fury include the Chinese police, the consular staff and, by extension, the entire Japanese...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Apr 21, 2002

And don't come back another day

ARTHRITIC JAPAN: The Slow Pace of Economic Reform, by Edward J. Lincoln. Washington, D.C.:Brookings Institution Press, 2001, 247 pp., $18.95 (paper) Japan's agonizingly slow attempts to resuscitate its ailing economy have left many observers bewildered. The policy failure is plain: the lowest growth...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 25, 2002

A method to nuclear madness?

HONOLULU -- We were shocked and dismayed to learn that the Pentagon has allegedly been instructed to develop contingency plans calling for the use of nuclear weapons to deter or respond to a chemical or biological attack on the United States. We say "allegedly" because we are relying on (at best) secondhand...

CULTURE / Books

Mar 17, 2002

The only certainty is change

THE UNITED STATES AND ASIA: Toward a New U.S. Strategy and Force Posture, by Zalmay Khalilzad, et al. RAND, 2001, 260 pp. (paper). Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Asia has enjoyed considerably more stability than has Europe, the other critical theater of the Cold War. It's fair to say that there...

COMMENTARY

Mar 11, 2002

Reform takes back seat to economic values

HONOLULU -- Despite the hype, Japan's antideflation package has failed once again to impress the critics. This failure is remarkable given the international attention that has focused on the proposal, the vote of no-confidence that had been delivered by the markets and the pressure applied by the U.S....

COMMENTARY

Jan 31, 2002

Toughest task yet: rebuilding Afghanistan's civil society

HONOLULU -- Two decades of war have exacted a horrific toll on Afghanistan. As the dust settles after the latest conflagration, the meaning of "nation building" is becoming clear -- and it's a mind-boggling assignment.

COMMENTARY

Jan 24, 2002

What is normal for Japan?

Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro has done an extraordinary job in leading Japan's response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. Both the package of measures his government put together to support the U.S.-led coalition against terrorism and the speed with which it was approved have...

COMMENTARY

Jan 18, 2002

War taking U.S. policy hostage

HONOLULU -- The fall of the Taliban government in Afghanistan has been greeted with quiet satisfaction. In fact, despite the sudden collapse of the Kabul regime, the tone in Washington has been sober. Washington has reminded us that the U.S.-led "war" against terrorism has three objectives -- the removal...

COMMENTARY

Dec 31, 2001

Resist the urge to keep score

HONOLULU -- There is an irresistible temptation to sort out winners and losers in the post-Sept. 11 world. Relations with the United States are the grand prize as governments scramble for position in the war against terrorism.

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Dec 23, 2001

Rethinking the threat that never was

NO MORE BASHING: Building a New Japan-United States Economic Relationship, by C. Fred Bergsten, Takatoshi Ito and Marcus Noland. Washington, D.C.: Institute for International Economics, October, 2001, 328 pp., $23.95 (paper). What a difference a decade makes. Ten years ago, the United States was widely...

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 22, 2001

Tanaka isn't the true target

HONOLULU — Japanese Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka has been engaged in a very public battle with Foreign Ministry officials since her appointment in April. While the controversy has focused on Tanaka's gaffes and her seeming inability to serve effectively as foreign minister, the real clash is...

COMMENTARY

Nov 21, 2001

Recipe for economic change

WASHINGTON — In recent weeks, Taiwan has taken two steps to prepare for the transformation of its economy. Taipei's decision to lift many of the restrictions on investment in the mainland and the island's entry into the World Trade Organization will produce fundamental shifts in the way Taiwan...

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