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Eli Lake
For Eli Lake's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2021
The U.S. has no Plan B on Iranian nukes. Israel does.
Even though Iran is now capable of enriching uranium to a high enough concentration for weapons, Israel has degraded its ability to place that fuel in warheads.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 17, 2021
Can America learn from its defeat in Afghanistan?
The value of an independent commission to examine the U.S. Afghanistan withdrawal is that it would offer some insulation from the daily pressures of Washington politics.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2021
The curious case of the Balkan war criminals
International tribunals are largely ceremonial until leaders who commit war crimes are ousted, or their armies defeated.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2021
Kick Russia out of the Iran nuclear talks
Zarif says that Russia "put all its weightu201d against the deal because, as the Times dryly explains, "it was not in Moscowu2019s interests for Iran to normalize relations with the West.u201d
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 14, 2021
Biden offers false hope to sell his Afghanistan surrender
The Taliban announced it will not participate in peace talks in Turkey. That means the U.S. will be leaving Afghanistanu2019s government to fend for itself in the midst of a civil war.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 11, 2021
What America has learned from Iranian social media
The U.S. State Departmentu2019s new approach treated social media as a channel to learn what Iranians thought about both their own regime and U.S. policy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2020
Progressives may not like Biden’s foreign policy
Biden has signaled that his national security cabinet will be more centrist than the left flank of his party would like.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 22, 2020
Trump’s Afghan troop withdrawal puts Biden in a jam
Avoiding calamity is not the same as wise statecraft. Trumpu2019s final military act is reckless, particularly in Afghanistan.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 6, 2020
Russia is using the media to wage war in Belarus. Sound familiar?
Vladimir Putin is trying to convey the impression that he is just a concerned neighbor in the Belarusian crisis.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2020
Would a new Iran deal be tougher than the one Trump left?
A president desperate for a win isnu2019t always in the best position to negotiate.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 5, 2020
The war on terror survives Rand Paul’s attempt to end it
Yet the U.S. senator from Kentucky is right to point out that Congress is abdicating its responsibility.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2020
Trump unmasks Obama administration’s unmaskers
The Trump administration's attempt to explain what happened to Michael Flynn isn't very revealing.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2020
Keep a tight rein on virus-tracking tools
Tools that democracies need to fight a pandemic are not appropriate when itu2019s over.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 2, 2020
Why the Taliban is celebrating Trump's peace plan
The agreement does not require the terrorist group to recognize Afghanistan's legitimately elected government.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2020
Why would Trump offer a pardon to Julian Assange?
Assange had already said that Russia was not responsible for the hacked emails about the 2016 election.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 31, 2020
The world's hypocrisy about Israel's occupation of the West Bank
Jewish settlements are not the primary obstacle to peace with the Palestinians.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 30, 2020
Johnson is jeopardizing the U.S.-U.K. alliance for Huawei
Allowing the Chinese firm on British networks will have long-term implications,
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 29, 2019
How the Kurds helped in the hunt for al-Baghdadi
Now what they want is Washington's support in their negotiations with Damascus.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 25, 2019
Why Trump relishes the upcoming impeachment battle
The U.S. president is lucky that his would-be impeachers have their own credibility issues.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 11, 2019
With John Bolton out, Trump can now go soft on Iran
President Donald Trump's decision to part ways with his national security adviser, John Bolton, was overdetermined. They disagreed on Afghanistan. They differed on North Korea. There was tension between them over Venezuela. They couldn't even agree on whether Bolton quit or was fired.

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A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world