Constantine Pleshakov - The Japan Times

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Constantine Pleshakov

For Constantine Pleshakov's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

COMMENTARY / World

May 18, 2016

May Day, Russia, Mayday!

Russian President Vladimir Putin used this year's holiday marking the Soviet victory in World War II to whip up jingoistic hysteria.

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 11, 2016

War returns to the Caucasus region

The frozen war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh region has thawed, with serious implications for the region.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 6, 2016

Pacific dreaming in Moscow

Russia's government announces yet another set of impotent plans to develop its long-neglected Pacific region.

Japan Times

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 24, 2015

With friends like Vladimir Putin, who needs enemies?

Avenging the City of Light, Russia and the West can turn Syria into the desert of darkness, but from that darkness nothing good will come.

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 16, 2015

Russian Navy's red tide rising

Short of naval assets but wanting to flex its muscles at sea, Russia is employing a maritime version of the 'hybrid warfare' it used to take control of Crimea.

Japan Times

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 21, 2015

Russian eagle takes steroids, reads Hegel, seeks recognition

The goal of Vladimir Putin's aggressive foreign policy may be a new contract with the West in which Russia is recognized as a leading power and treated as an equal.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Feb 19, 2006

On your own in the Ice Age

MOSCOW -- If scientists are bent on calling the overall weather mayhem of the past few years "global warming," more power to them, but this winter the term looked like a huge misnomer to the population of Eurasia -- from the Pacific to the Atlantic.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Jan 20, 2006

Even a child knows better

MOSCOW -- Occasionally, we all get wrong ideas about ourselves. A middle-aged person starts dressing like Leonardo di Caprio, a pizza deliveryman begins emulating "The Godfather," a school teacher turns herself into a Gestapo interrogator.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Jan 3, 2006

Putin 'exiles' the high court

MOSCOW -- Exiling someone is so very Russian. Although centuries passed by and regimes changed, authorities retained exile as a great tool of punishment and manipulation. Less objectionable than execution or imprisonment, it effectively uprooted and silenced the regimes' opponents -- and sometimes destroyed them altogether.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Dec 15, 2005

Russian rightwingers ride benzene spill

MOSCOW -- The city of Khabarovsk is ill-starred. Founded by hopeful entrepreneurs as a major trade hub in the Russian Far East on the doorstep of China, it turned into a big dump -- a symbol of missed opportunities and disillusionment.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Nov 12, 2005

Downsized Russian holiday

MOSCOW -- Wouldn't you feel confused if your government moved Christmas Day to Dec. 21 and named it the Day of Fraternal Oscillation?

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Oct 16, 2005

Lenin can still save Russia

MOSCOW -- To: Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Aug 26, 2005

Playing war in the Far East

MOSCOW -- Chinese walk into Vladivostok, Russians occupy Qindao. Amphibious armored vehicles negotiate the surf, jet fighters refuel in the air, troops land on barren beaches. A Hollywood World War III movie? An Internet prank? A hallucination from a crazed war veteran? Nope, they are joint military drills negotiated by Moscow and Beijing in an attempt to impress the world, especially the United States and Japan.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Jul 31, 2005

Nature never tries to be nice

MOSCOW -- Planet Earth, aka Mother Nature, is a sturdy killer. Preachers, environmentalists and sunset lovers keep trying to persuade us that it is as benevolent and fragile as a loving aging parent. Not at all. The environment we live in is hard-nosed and violent -- hardly a mother figure but rather a mean impartial witch.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Jun 5, 2005

Denial of existential needs

MOSCOW -- The blackout that hit Moscow late last month wasn't any better or worse than others that have struck big cities recently, say New York in August 2003. It is the same old thing over and over again -- people stuck in subways and elevators, hospitals canceling lifesaving surgeries, crowds grimly dragging back home on foot as no public transportation is available.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

May 15, 2005

Cannon fodder won the war

MOSCOW -- Writing a book is not unlike planting a garden. You make elaborate plans for each section; you comb encyclopedias and guides for advice; you collect every piece of information about the species that interests you; you say to yourself that, unlike other gardens, yours is going to be consistent, orderly, and will have meaning to it.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Apr 17, 2005

Behold John Paul II, a marvelous actor

MOSCOW -- Sixty years ago when friends of a young Pole, Karol Wojtyla, grieved that the talented actor was abandoning the stage for a Catholic seminary, their concerns were in vain. Actually, though, the young man never quit acting. As Pope John Paul II, he became the greatest artistic star in the world.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Apr 1, 2005

Best face on a looting binge

MOSCOW -- The city "went mad" amid an "orgy of looting." Thousands of people of all ages roamed the streets, plundering shops and government offices. Armed with sticks, they smashed everything they couldn't take home and fought each other over valuable spoils. The dictator's palace, foreboding in the past, attracted looters like yellow jackets to a jar of honey.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Mar 20, 2005

Artwork unfurled without a destination

MOSCOW -- To be popular with art historians, you have to be a dead Italian male. Everyone else is suspect to tenured professors and critics, particularly if the work is going to last for just 16 days and is made of nylon and steel. Such was the case with a revolutionary project by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, "The Gates" -- 7,500 citrus-hue arches unfurled in New York City's Central Park.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Mar 1, 2005

Waltzing around the issues

MOSCOW -- Summits have gone to the dogs. Gone are the days when a meeting of two presidents could change the world overnight, redrafting borders, changing governments and ensuring peace or war.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

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

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

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