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May 18, 2024
 

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Ramesh Thakur

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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:
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2015
Abbott's bullying of public broadcaster backfires
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has bungled once again by trying to bully Australia's national broadcaster into toeing the government line.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 21, 2015
A lesson in the geopolitics of infrastructure finance
The war to compel China to abide by the U.S.-designed and controlled post-1945 liberal international economic order is well and truly lost.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 8, 2015
How to achieve UNSC reform
The Group of Four countries should engage in a deliberate and combined campaign of noncooperation in their push for U.N. Security Council reforms.
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2015
NPT shows signs of fraying
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty shows signs of no longer being capable of coping with contemporary challenges.
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2015
From romancing to deromanticizing the dragon
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking a hands-on approach to improving bilateral ties with China.
COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 2015
Australia's moral posturing at Indonesia is misguided
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was wrong to allow the execution of two convicted Australian drug traffickers to damage relations with Indonesia.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 17, 2015
A tribute to Australian leader Malcolm Fraser
Malcom Fraser was Australia's moral compass: a forthright liberal voice for human rights on refugee policy, a compassionate voice on international aid and relief issues, and a powerful voice for an independent foreign policy.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 8, 2015
How India can support the CTBT before signing
India's continued refusal to engaine in the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty leads many to wonder if New Delhi is keeping open the option of resuming testing.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2015
Iran: Obama's triumph over neoconservative warmongers
By ending Iran's isolation and bringing it back into the international fold, the West can help to rebuild its once powerful secular middle class, dilute the influence of the radical clergy, turn Tehran into an ally to defeat the Islamist jihadists and accelerate negotiations on regional issues.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 9, 2015
Netanyahu's 'wolf' refrain tests longtime ties with U.S.
By trying to bury a proposed nuclear deal with Iran in front of the U.S. Congress, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put the most critical Israeli relationship at risk.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 26, 2015
Belling the nuclear wildcat
The only guarantee of zero nuclear weapons risk — five years after U.S. President Barack Obama's stirring speech outlining his dream of nuclear disarmament — is to move to zero nuclear weapons possession by a carefully managed process.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2015
Has Australia caught the revolving leader bug?
With three prime ministers in the past two years and maybe a fourth before long, has Australia caught the dreaded Japanese disease of revolving leaders?
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2015
Next U.N. secretary general
With Ban Ki-moon's second term as U.N. secretary general ending Dec. 31, 2016, there are said to be at least three candidates to replace the South Korean. And former Prime Ministers Helen Clark of New Zealand and Kevin Rudd of Australia are believed to be interested in the world's top diplomatic post.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2015
Modi bets heavily on the U.S. as a key partner
For the Indo-U.S. partnership to succeed, the two countries should be mutually respectful of differing priorities where policies diverge, not lecture each other reproachfully.
COMMENTARY
Jan 22, 2015
Hindu zealots drag down India's great-power destiny
A tussle is going on between the cultural and economic right wings of India's ruling party. The former helped to bring the Bharatiya Janata Party to power, but only the latter can ensure it retains power by using it for the common good.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 2, 2015
How to root out the poison of extremism in Pakistan
The intertwining of religious terrorism, the colonization of the state by the army and the obsession with India as an existential threat has mutated into a virulent toxin feeding parasitically on Pakistan.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 15, 2014
Reducing the global threat posed by nuclear weapons
The best calculations show that even a limited nuclear warhead exchange between India and Pakistan would wreak havoc on food distribution networks, killing up to 1 billion people worldwide.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 28, 2014
Missing out on an Iran deal
Negotiators may have let slip the most opportune moment for ending the standoff on Iran's nuclear program.
COMMENTARY
Nov 3, 2014
Avoiding Western networks
All five BRICS countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — have vested interests in developing long-term alternative financial institutions for parking their money and moving it internationally, independent of the West's bullying instincts and addiction to sanctions.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2014
India's nuclear risks and costs
The inevitable conclusion that nuclear weapons cannot help India solve the problems of poverty, illiteracy and malnutrition, and are irrelevant as security against any other country, should at least encourage India to champion the phased and verifiable goal of global nuclear disarmament.
Japanese stripper bids to have her porn movies taken off internet
Plaintiff Miyuki Ariga (left) speaks at a news conference along with her lawyer, Yoshitomo Morohashi, after filing a lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court on Monday.
Japan passes bill to introduce 'blue ticket' fines for cyclists
A new system under which bicycle riders pay fines for minor traffic violations to escape criminal punishment is expected to be introduced in Japan no later than 2026.
Japan changes law to allow joint custody after divorce
Legislation that allows the option of joint custody of children after divorce is passed at the Upper House plenary session on Friday.
U.S. envoy to Japan makes landmark visit to front-line island near Taiwan
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel meets with members of the Self-Defense Forces stationed on Yonaguni, Okinawa Prefecture, on Friday.
Japan to review romanization system for first time in 70 years
An advisory panel to the education ministry will consider how the Japanese language should be transcribed into the Latin alphabet, including unifying different romanization styles currently in use.
Can AI-generated inventions be patented? A Tokyo court says no.
The Tokyo court's ruling comes amid ongoing debates on how to regulate generative AI and is part of a transnational class action lawsuit.
A new initiative rethinks old Tohoku crafts
The colored patterns of Tsuguru "nuri," made in Aomori Prefecture, are achieved by applying multiple coatings of lacquer, which are later polished down to reveal layers of colors beneath.
Xi and Putin mark ‘new era’ amid efforts to counter U.S. ‘containment’
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend an event in Beijing on Thursday. During Putin's visit, the leaders showed off their growing alignment amid efforts to push back against the U.S.-led world order.
Unraveling the Japanese prose of Yukio Mishima
Author Yukio Mishima accepts the Arts Festival Award in the drama category at the 20th Arts Festival Award Ceremony on Jan. 22, 1966.
New Taiwan president to set tone for ties with China at inauguration
Taiwan President-elect Lai Ching-te arrives at the CyberSec 2024 Exhibition in Taipei on Wednesday.

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