author

 
 
 Ramesh Thakur

Meta

Ramesh Thakur
Ramesh Thakur is Professor in the Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University; adjunct professor, Institute for Ethics, Governance and Law, Griffith University, and editor-in-chief of Global Governance from Jan. 1, 2013. He began writing for The Japan Times in 1998 as Vice Rector of the United Nations University.
For Ramesh Thakur's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2020
Scapegoating the WHO as the CHO
Now is not the time to demonize and defund the WHO.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2020
Pandemics and the G20: One last shot at relevance
The Group of 20 has the right mix of member states to handle a global crisis like the coronavirus pandemic. The only question is whether it will take up the task.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 22, 2020
U.S.-India relations shape Japan's strategic environment
Japan's strategic environment is shaped by the intersection of three major geopolitical storylines.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2020
Impeachment energizes Trump, drains Democrats
The Democrats' impeachment effort has successfully energized Trump's base and fundraising but not their own.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2020
North Korea's 2020 vision: A nuclear shield, not a sword
The longer Kim keeps nuclear weapons, the more credible the claim will become that his primary interest is in nuclear deterrence.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 14, 2020
Why Australia is burning
While climate volatility certainly poses a threat to Australia, the more immediate cause of this year's massive fires is poor land and forest management.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2020
Modi's project to make a Hindu India
India represents the most successful example in history of managing the challenge of unity in diversity, but the ruling party's Hindutva agenda threatens this achievement.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2020
The half-century miracle of Asian resurgence
To turn optimistic long-term forecasts into reality, Asian states will have to overcome the major challenges of mass poverty, jobless growth, rising inequality and the middle-income trap.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2019
Modi lacks the political ticker for tough economic decisions
Prime Minister Narendra Modi lost his nerve again and has locked India into a bleak future.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 5, 2019
The risk of entrapment by self-fulfilling nuclear prophecy
We increase the probability of a self-fulfilling prophecy of growing direct nuclear threats by merely opening the discussion of independent deterrents.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 2, 2019
Japan's least bad choice on North Korea
The focus should be on deterring Pyongyang from starting a war or committing acts of aggression, containing it, and constructing defensive shields.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 11, 2019
Nuclear arms treaty and umbrella states
Signing the nuclear weapons ban treaty would send a powerful message of the priority Tokyo gives nuclear disarmament.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 25, 2019
Urgent appeal to save nuclear agreements
The rapid deterioration of nuclear arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation pacts adds to the rising risk of the use of nuclear weapons.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2019
India's bad bet in Kashmir
India's decision to withdraw Kashmir's special status threatens to be the spark that starts a war.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2019
Trump's incoherent policy on India
The distance from hubris to delusion is short and the Trump administration is bent on covering it in a sprint in its India policy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 11, 2019
Trump's disquieting disdain for Japan
Rising tensions between China and the U.S. have put Japan in a uniquely privileged position vis-a-vis both countries.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2019
Moving from #MeToo to #MenToo
False accusations of sexual assault have spawned the #MenToo movement in India, which demands gender-neutral laws and investigative procedures.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 11, 2019
Press freedom: 'No one is above the law' is a slogan, not a policy
Blowing the whistle on state crimes is not a threat to national security; only to the reputation of ministers and generals.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 6, 2019
Which Tiananmen narrative is true?
There is little doubt about the Beijing spring of 1989 that called for greater openness, freedoms and democracy in China, or about its suppression. But there is a counter-narrative that receives no mention in the China-bashing mainstream media.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2019
Religion, intolerance and political blowback
Identity politics is reshaping electoral contests as cultural nationalists push back against the perceived excesses of social progressives.

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces