Walter Pincus - The Japan Times

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Walter Pincus

For Walter Pincus's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 29, 2013

What are the next steps in the Iran nuclear deal?

The interim agreement with Iran recognizes that Tehran's nuclear program is not going away, and that neither tougher sanctions nor the threat of military strikes can change that.

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 4, 2013

Foley tribute has important lessons for Congress

The U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall last week became a lecture room for some lawmakers to learn about the secret of 'old school' success in bipartisan House leadership.

COMMENTARY

Oct 24, 2013

New lever for reducing the U.S. nuclear arsenal

The threat of the continuing U.S. budget sequester could succeed in yielding rational changes to the U.S. nuclear weapons program — a goal that simple logic has failed to achieve.

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 13, 2013

The data mining of social media: Get used to it

Many people love the convenience of cellphones and ever more social media applications. What many don't focus on is how easily outsiders can invade their lives.

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 4, 2013

Focus on facts, not fear, in a public NSA debate

It's time for a meaningful public debate about how NSA's communications data collection programs actually operate, not just the potential dangers they may pose.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 21, 2013

In electronic snooping, level of oversight is key

Americans are learning what electronics whizzes and hackers have known all along — that computers and smartphones, which make our lives more productive and entertaining, have at the same time ended privacy as most of us have understood it.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 17, 2013

Surveillance controversy illuminated by history

The American public at large is more accepting of the government's involvement in their lives than a 29-year-old former NSA contractor appears to believe.

COMMENTARY / World

May 24, 2013

No heroes in AP news leak

Whoever provided the initial leak to the Associated Press in April 2012 not only broke the law but caused the abrupt end to a secret, joint U.S./Saudi/British operation in Yemen that offered valuable intelligence against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

COMMENTARY / World

May 20, 2013

Creating roadblocks to cuts in nuclear arms

U.S. congressional dysfunction on defense rears its head when a subcommittee chair threatens to withhold funds for implementing the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

COMMENTARY / World

May 2, 2013

Barren legal ground for U.S. airstrikes in Syria

Would the U.S. have any legal justification for launching airstrikes against Syrian government radars, antiaircraft sites and air bases — and killing civilians?

Japan Times

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS

Apr 20, 2013

Young Kim pushing harder than ever

How provocative has the United States been to North Korea?

Japan Times

WORLD / ANALYSIS

Mar 31, 2013

U.S. takes lead on missile defense

The United States has quietly taken on the huge task of trying to organize regional ballistic missile defense networks, not only among NATO countries, but also in East Asia and the Middle East.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 29, 2013

A post-Assad Syria can't grab the attention of Capitol Hill

As Capitol Hill fields calls for U.S. military intervention in Syria, it fails to consider whether a post-Assad Syria would pose tougher problems than Iraq.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 27, 2013

Lessons from the Iraq War are there for the heeding

Do Obama policymakers really know the economic consequences of beginning military operations in Iran or supplying weapons to Syria's opposition

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 20, 2013

An uphill battle to reduce U.S. nuclear arsenal

President Barack Obama will have a harder time getting some Senate Republicans to agree to new reductions in nuclear arsenals than he will Moscow.

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 30, 2012

High cost of disengagement from Afghanistan

The United States has spent nearly $600 billion over the past 10 years putting combat forces into Afghanistan. Now it's going to cost an additional $5.7 billion over the next year or two just to transfer or return most of the troops and equipment we shipped into that country, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office.

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 24, 2012

Hard questions about the U.S. nuclear arsenal

We are rightly mourning the horrific killings in Newtown, Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School and discussing the threats posed by semiautomatic rifles.

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 3, 2012

Ceasefire tests five leaders

The diplomatic activities under the current Gaza ceasefire will test whether a quintet of leaders — each with his own domestic critics — can find a peaceful rather than a military solution to the Palestinian situation. The ceasefire language was direct but ambiguous: "Israel should stop all hostilities in the Gaza Strip by land, sea and air, including incursions and targeting of individuals."

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 27, 2012

Middle East buildup refutes critics of Obama

Here are some facts that should be considered by those who criticize the Barack Obama administration for "leading from behind" in the troubled Middle East.

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 18, 2012

Turning swords into plowshares, and back again

How long does it take for enemies to become allies, and allies to become enemies?

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

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

By Lance Henderstein

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Leading Japan’s sustainability from Tokyo

Leading Japan’s sustainability from Tokyo

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