author

 
 

Meta

Barry Rubin
For Barry Rubin's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 16, 2009
Fatah's new status quo leaders
HERZLIYA, Israel — The Sixth Fatah Congress, held recently in Bethlehem, was an important event for the future of the Arab-Israeli conflict and for the Palestinian movement. But a careful look at the results of the Congress' elections to Fatah's Central Committee yields a picture that is quite different from what many will conclude about the meeting.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 18, 2009
The long-term security threat to Arab states
JERUSALEM — In Iran, elements from within the regime are reportedly offering a $1 million reward for the assassination of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak because of his opposition to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In Lebanon, the leader of Hezbollah, backed by Iran and Syria, merely calls for the Egyptian government's overthrow.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 26, 2007
Turkey arrives at a political crossroads
HERZLIYA, Israel — In what may be Turkey's most important political event since the republic was founded in the 1920s, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has won a landslide parliamentary election victory, with around 47 percent of the vote. Only two other parties — the Republican People's Party (CHP) with 21 percent and the National Action Party (MHP) with 14 percent — surpassed the 10 percent threshold for representation in Parliament. A number of independents will complete the legislative roster.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 20, 2007
Don't underestimate Hamas' extremism
PRAGUE — Hamas' capture of the Gaza Strip has created, along with Iran, a second radical Islamist state in the Middle East. The region, probably the Arab-Israeli conflict and certainly the Palestinian movement will never be the same.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2006
Palestinian civil conflict leads nowhere
PRAGUE -- Regardless of the latest hastily negotiated truce, the battle between nationalist Fatah and Islamist Hamas seems to be gaining intensity. Palestinian politics, always self-destructive, has reached new heights of internal conflict, pulling the population deeper into disorder and pushing them further away from statehood.

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