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COMMENTARY / World

Jul 20, 2008

Can Hu ease up to enjoy the world's wishes?

By Kevin Rafferty

HONG KONG — With a little unexpected help from people who would not normally be considered its friends, China has recently taken important strides to improve regional relations and become a global political as well as economic player.

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Jul 20, 2008

Lemon-picking prof prompts reflection on strange twists of fate

By Roger Pulvers

Lately I have been thinking about some wonderful teachers I was blessed with at university. Three, in particular, shaped my life. Had I not encountered them, I doubt that I myself would have become an author of fiction, a translator and a teacher.

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 19, 2008

What's the beef with Seoul?

By Michael G. Kulma

NEW YORK — At the outset of the violent protests in South Korea over imported beef from the United States, the entire Cabinet of South Korean President Lee Myung Bak offered to resign. Last week, Lee fired three of them. But beef, it turns out, represents just the tip of the iceberg of grievances against...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 18, 2008

Raul Castro seeks alternatives to Venezuela

By Luiz Alberto Moniz Bandeira and Ted Loos

BRASILIA — Raul Castro has begun a gradual process of changing Cuba's economy and international relations. Within Cuba, he hopes to legitimize his government by improving standards of living. Outside of Cuba, he does not want to be held captive by Cuba's one international supporter: Venezuelan President...

COMMENTARY

Jul 18, 2008

Cliches won't rescue Earth

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON — The recent Group of Eight summit in Hokkaido was one of the least memorable summit meetings. Every G8 spews out cliches; the Hokkaido meeting was no exception. Leaders at the meeting were generally a mediocre lot.

COMMENTARY

Jul 17, 2008

New world order is long overdue

By Frank Ching

George Herbert Walker Bush, when he was president of the United States, used to talk a lot about a "new world order" emerging after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Seventeen years later, that new order is still not in place as the countries that dominated the old order refuse to make way for...

COMMENTARY

Jul 17, 2008

Let's hope it's over soon

By David Howell

The world is now in the grip of a first-class financial crisis. Some will be hit harder than others, but no one is going to escape. Final confirmation of this has arrived with the news that the two giant mortgage companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, pillars of American life that underwrite, or insure,...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 17, 2008

Anti-Chavez axis emerging in Latin America

By Charles Tannock

BRUSSELS — The rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages who had been held for years by FARC guerrillas marks more than a turning point in Colombia's long war against its drug-running, Marxist guerrillas. It also confirms the emergence of a new troika of Latin American leaders — Colombia's...

COMMENTARY

Jul 16, 2008

The odds are stacked against an Iran attack

By Gwynne Dyer

The Iranians have clearly concluded that all the American and Israeli threats to attack them are mere bluff. Israel could not destroy all of Iran's nuclear facilities unless it was willing to drop large numbers of nuclear weapons on Iran. The United States could do the job using only conventional weapons,...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 16, 2008

Al Gore and the green inquisition

By Bjorn Lomborg

COPENHAGEN — When it comes to global warming, extreme scare stories abound. Al Gore, for example, famously claimed that a whopping 6 meters of sea-level rise would flood major cities around the world.

COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE

Jul 15, 2008

Keidanren hedging bets on LDP

The Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) is showing signs of changing its unflinching support for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, as it seeks closer ties with the No. 1 opposition Democratic Party of Japan.

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 15, 2008

With loss of life affordable, it's sink or swim

By H. Harry L. Roque Jr.

MANILA — The June 21 tragedy of the sinking of the Princess of the Stars ferry in the waters off Romblon in the Philippines — with hundreds of corpses still believed trapped inside — is proof that the country is prone not only to natural calamities but to man-made ones as well. The decision to...

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.

What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

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