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 Brad Glosserman

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Brad Glosserman
For Brad Glosserman's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addresses a joint session of Congress in Washington on Thursday. Kishida’s recent summit with U.S. President Joe Biden is being lauded as a success.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 16, 2024
Give credit where credit’s due after prime minister's outstanding U.S. summit
The Japan-U.S. summit has been rightly called historic and a big deal for Tokyo and the alliance — if its long list of deliverables is realized.
A recent near-hacking incident underscores the critical role of open-source software in the digital economy and the vulnerabilities inherent in its decentralized development process.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 9, 2024
The world narrowly escapes a supply chain doomsday scenario
A software engineer last month stumbled on what some say would have been the most widespread and effective backdoor ever planted in any software product.
Chinese Coast Guard ships fire water cannons at a Philippine boat during a supply mission near Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on March 5. This incident highlights the danger that such confrontations could have for sparking a wider conflict.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2024
Beware the steady creep toward crisis in the South China Sea
The Philippines is pushing back. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has adopted a policy of “assertive transparency” to show the world what China is doing.
While Beijing promotes a vision of a peaceful and cooperative world, its foreign policy increasingly involves coercion, military buildup and assertive actions that challenge the existing international order.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 27, 2024
What is Beijing’s ultimate endgame? The answer is clear.
China's purported vision of equality and security for the world is belied by increasingly forceful foreign policy.
Humility, recognition of cultural blind spots and a renewed effort are needed to find common ground between China and the United States.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2024
Addressing the 'blind spots' in U.S.-China relations
The dwindling opportunities for unofficial dialogue between scholars and experts from the U.S. and China are also driving by mutual suspicion and fear.
China insists that for meaningful negotiations to occur, the nuclear arsenals of the U.S. and Russia must be reduced to levels comparable to its own.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2024
China’s ‘minimum’ nuclear deterrence is still a threat
Estimates of the number of Chinese warheads range from 400 to 500, a striking contrast to the several thousand that the U.S and Russia possess.
The U.S and Japan are working together to secure a stable semiconductor supply chain and maintain their leading position in this critical technology amid concerns over China.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 5, 2024
Semiconductors are back to center stage in the Japan-U.S. alliance
It is impossible to overestimate the importance of semiconductors to the 21st century. They’re everywhere and in every digital item.
There is a global trend toward economic bifurcation with the U.S. and China leading the charge — and multinational solutions are needed to address the new challenges.
COMMENTARY
Feb 28, 2024
The inexorable movement toward a divided global economy
Efforts to protect national economies from threats require multinational solutions. Chains are only as strong as their weakest link.
Japan's fall to No. 4 in the global economic rankings reflects an aging population and declining resources.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 20, 2024
Japan slips in the global economic rankings: So what’s next?
The IMF has forecast that India will overtake Japan economically in 2026 and Germany in 2027.
“The Rise and Fall of the EAST” author Yasheng Huang blames the “keju,” the imperial national civil service exam, for the decline in China’s technological innovation. Its influence continues in the “gaokao,” the annual university entrance exam that high school students take in June.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 19, 2024
‘The Rise and Fall of the EAST’: China’s ancient successes paint worrying picture of its future
Economist Yasheng Huang delves into the impact of the "keju" imperial national civil service exam on the ebb and flow of China’s technological innovation.
U.S. allies reevaluate priorities in relations with Washington out of concern Donald Trump may win the U.S. presidency again.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2024
U.S. allies fear the fallout of a new Trump era
The world appears to have priced in former U.S. President Trump’s disdain not only for allies but the entire global order his predecessors created.
U.S. and U.K. military aircraft have carried out over a hundred bombing missions on Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen, as well as against Tehran's proxies in Iraq and Syria, since last month.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 6, 2024
2024 looks to be a very bloody year
Preventing a conflagration and wider wars depends first on preventing regional crises from escalating, which demands a strong deterrent posture.
Taylor Swift (right) cheers on her boyfriend Travis Kelce's team, the Kansas City Chiefs, in the AFC divisional round playoff game against the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, New York, on Jan. 21. The Chiefs will play the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 6, 2024
Taylor Swift rocks the world and drives the far right crazy
The “Swift effect” has become a force in both U.S. domestic politics and international relations.
At the heart of European Union thinking about economic security is fear that economic dependencies will be weaponized.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 30, 2024
EU’s dilemma: balancing national and economic security
At the heart of EU thinking about economic security is fear that economic dependencies will be weaponized.
According to the the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, international economic activity is expected to slow amid changing trade patterns.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 23, 2024
From 'hyperglobalization' to 'thin globalism'
How geopolitics, pandemics, and economic tensions are transforming global trade.
The "wolf warrior" metaphor is used for Chinese diplomats who are known for aggressively making their country’s case on the world stage.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2024
Doves, pandas and dragons: Decoding the global political zoo
Animal metaphors help us reflect on the rich and varied landscape of foreign policy discourse.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets with U.S. President Joe Biden in Tokyo in May 2022.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 11, 2024
A critical year for the Japan-U.S. alliance
The foundation of the Japan-U.S. partnership is a belief in the need to support and maintain the rules-based global order.
The first sunset of 2024, seen over Chiba's Boso Peninsula from a chartered Solaseed Air flight on the morning of Jan. 1.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2023
The outlook for 2024 appears grim — but nothing is preordained
Given the complex landscape of 2024, we can expect to navigate uncertainty, geopolitical shifts and a myriad of pivotal elections.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa attends the 10th trilateral foreign ministers' meeting in Busan, South Korea, on Nov. 26.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 27, 2023
It's time to consider a woman to take Japan's top job
Is a controversial call for Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa to become the LDP's first female prime minister a Hail Mary or a masterstroke?
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg meet during a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 19, 2023
NATO's delicate balancing act in the Indo-Pacific
Japan and NATO are already working together on new technologies and on efforts to safeguard the new domains of cyber, outer space and other vectors.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on