Commentary / World Aug 3, 2018
Trump's gambling problem
The U.S. president is betting away America's most precious asset — its global credit — and driving more countries toward Russia.
Nina Khrushcheva
For Nina Khrushcheva's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Commentary / World Mar 3, 2017
Why it matters when artists criticize Trump
It is often the arts, serious or satirical, that expose the tragic absurdity of repressive leadership. And the worse Trump behaves, the more demand there will be for artists who oppose him.
Commentary / World Jan 22, 2017
America's Russian hypocrisy
Washington's campaign against Russian President Vladimir Putin exposes the pattern of duplicity that has pervaded U.S. foreign policy.
Commentary / World Mar 18, 2015
Why Czar Vladimir Putin is always correct
Russians have endured some of the worst despots in history, yet they have a near-apocalyptic fear of change of power.
Commentary / World Feb 4, 2015
What does Vladimir Putin really want in Ukraine?
Sowing confusion is how Russian President Vladimir Putin, increasingly isolated from Western conversations, keeps the world on its toes about the conflict in Ukraine.
Commentary Jan 20, 2015
Proven scare tactics serve Putin well
President Vladimir Putin knows that the canny use of fear and forgiveness will allow him to retain his grip on power.
Commentary / World Dec 16, 2013
Putin's display of a Peronist persona
After nearly 14 years in power, perhaps the best comparative description of Russian President Vladimir Putin may be a transgender cross between the former Argentine leader Juan Peron and his legendary wife, Evita
Commentary / World Jun 4, 2012
Final ride for the Putin showboat?
Vladimir Putin's new presidential term is just beginning, but it increasingly looks like the beginning of the end. Whenever Russia's people pour into the streets en masse, as they currently are doing, from that point on things never work out well for the authorities. In ...
Commentary / World Oct 5, 2011
Reformer for the delusional
The only vote that matters in Russia's 2012 presidential election is now in, and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has cast it for himself. He will be returning as Russia's president next year. When the news broke — together with the lesser news that the incumbent, ...
Commentary / World Oct 3, 2010
The resistance to Russia's political order
MOSCOW — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's decision to fire Moscow's long-entrenched mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, is the most decisive move of his presidency. Is it really part of his drive to modernize Russia, or part of an emerging power play with Moscow's real strong man, ...