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Peter Baker
For Peter Baker's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk (right, center) speaks next to Poland's President Andrzej Duda (right, second from right) during a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden (left, second from left), at the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 13, 2024
Biden offers ‘ironclad’ commitment to allies, defying Russia
The U.S. president's meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk marked the 25th year since Poland's accession to NATO.
U.S. President Joe Biden makes a campaign stop at Strath Haven Middle School in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 9, 2024
Providing both bombs and food, Biden puts himself in the middle of Gaza’s war
Biden's decision to send aid by air and sea represents a shift prompted by the growing humanitarian crisis. But it also raised uncomfortable questions.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 3, 2024
For Democrats pining for an alternative, Biden team has a message: Get over it.
While a new poll shows that 2 in 5 Democrats say the president shouldn't be the nominee, no one who matters to Biden is willing to suggest he step aside.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 18, 2024
‘Dictators do not go on vacation,’ Zelenskyy warns Washington and Europe
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on world leaders not to abandon his country saying that Russia would continue to test the international order.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testifies during a hearing in Washington on Nov. 8. The chances of Mayorkas being convicted in the Senate seem to be almost zero.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 3, 2024
Inside impeachment’s rise as a weapon of partisan warfare in the U.S.
Impeachment has essentially become just another weapon in today’s bitter, tit-for-tat partisan wars.
An Israeli tank near the Israel-Gaza border on Saturday
WORLD / Politics
Jan 28, 2024
Negotiators close to hostage deal halting Gaza fighting for weeks
Negotiators have a draft agreement that merges Israel and Hamas proposals into a basic framework for talks in Paris on Sunday.
U.S. President Joe Biden is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives in the country amid the Israel-Hamas war, on Oct. 18. No other episode in the past half-century has tested the relationship between the United States and Israel in such an intense and consequential way as the Israel-Hamas war of 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 1, 2024
The U.S. and Israel: An embrace shows signs of strain after Oct. 7
No other episode in the past half-century has tested the relationship in such an intense and consequential way as the Israel-Hamas war of 2023.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, on Saturday, as Secretary of State Antony Blinken listens.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 8, 2023
Biden’s hopes for the Middle East imperiled by eruption of violence
The Hamas attack on Israel could narrow the chances of Saudi Arabia and Israel normalizing relations — and a new alignment in the region.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in July 2022
WORLD / Politics
Jul 30, 2023
Biden presses ahead with effort to broker Israeli-Saudi rapprochement
The fact that U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan returned to Jeddah so soon after his last visit suggests prospects for an accord.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 25, 2023
Short-lived mutiny in Russia sheds light on Putin’s hold on power
Could Russia’s invasion of Ukraine lead to the downfall of Vladimir Putin? For a few chaotic, head-snapping hours this weekend, the notion did not seem so far-fetched.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Jun 9, 2023
Indictment brings Trump story full circle
The former U.S. president assailed Hillary Clinton for her handling of sensitive information. Now, the same issue threatens his chances of reclaiming the presidency.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 6, 2023
Robert Hanssen, FBI agent exposed as spy for Moscow, dies at 79
Hanssen was sentenced to life in prison in 2002, bringing to a close one of the most lurid and damaging espionage cases in American history.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 13, 2023
Chinese-brokered deal upends Middle East diplomacy and challenges U.S.
The Americans, who have been the central actors in the Middle East for the past three-quarters of a century, now find themselves on the sidelines during a moment of significant change.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 19, 2023
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, 98, opts for hospice care
Defying illness and death for years, Carter outlasted the two presidents who followed him, becoming the longest-living president in 2019.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 10, 2022
Biden celebrates beating the odds, but he faces a new challenge
The president conceded that Donald Trump's supporters retain enormous influence and will be a challenge for him.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 3, 2022
The two parties finally agree on something: American democracy is in danger
In a remarkable consensus, a new Quinnipiac University poll found that 69% of Democrats and 69% of Republicans say that democracy is 'in danger of collapse.”
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 17, 2022
As Biden reaches out to Mideast dictators, his eyes are on China and Russia
Biden outlined a five-part 'new framework for the Middle East” that included supporting economic development, military security and democratic freedoms.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 14, 2022
Biden, battered at home, basks in unvarnished praise in Israel
At a red-carpet airport ceremony flush with fawning on both sides, Israeli President Isaac Herzog called his U.S. counterpart 'our brother Joseph.”
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 10, 2022
Trump is depicted as a would-be autocrat willing to hang onto power at all costs
Whether the Jan. 6 panel can change public views of the events of that day remains unclear, but many political strategists and analysts consider it unlikely.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 10, 2022
Biden speeds up military aid to Ukraine, drawing U.S. deeper into war
Recent developments have underscored just how engaged the United States has become in the conflict in Ukraine.

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