Commentary / World Sep 15, 2018
Why Putin is softening on internet memes
The Kremlin is having second thoughts about jailing people for silly social media posts it calls "extremist." It wants to look scary, not ridiculous.
Leonid Bershidsky
For Leonid Bershidsky's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Commentary / World Sep 11, 2018
The Swedish vote is another populist failure
The election was a warning to centrists to do more to integrate immigrants.
Commentary / World Aug 30, 2018
A master class in the art of political survival
The Kremlin isn't completely unresponsive to popular opinion, but it won't tolerate dissent that demands radical change.
Commentary / World Aug 26, 2018
Soviet Union's collapse gets a revisionist view
A new narrative from a former vice president paints Yeltsin as a tool of the U.S. in thwarting the 1991 coup by hardliners.
Commentary / World Aug 25, 2018
Facebook, Twitter and violence are linked
Studies in the U.S. and Germany link Facebook and Twitter with xenophobic crime.
Commentary / World Aug 21, 2018
Anti-dollar mavericks can't win just yet
Could the U.S. be going too far with the weaponization of its economic advantage? For now, Turkey, Russia and Iran are powerless against the dollar's dominance, even with China's help.
Commentary / World Jul 24, 2018
Iran faces consequences for snubbing Trump
The U.S. has made nice with North Korea and Putin, but kept Iran in the firing line.
Commentary / World Jul 17, 2018
Putin and Trump couldn't make their relationship work
The Helsinki summit ended without agreements because there's nothing the two leaders can do for each other.
Commentary / World Jul 10, 2018
NATO can be viable with or without the U.S.
America's European allies can call Trump's bluff by showing they can take care of their own defense.
Commentary / World Jul 7, 2018
Open-plan offices are making us less social
Being in a wall-less aquarium makes workers want to communicate electronically rather than face-to-face.