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COMMENTARY

Feb 14, 2003

Blair makes a case for war

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair recognizes he has a tough task ahead to persuade Britons to support war on Iraq. In a Feb. 6 television program, he demonstrated that the case against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is a strong one and emphasized the dangers of allowing the Iraqi dictator to...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 13, 2003

Time for a Japan-Chile free trade accord

By Noboro Hatakeyama

Chilean President Ricardo Lagos is currently visiting Japan at the official invitation of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. I suppose that one of the aims of his visit is to ask Japan to begin a joint study with Chile on the possibility of a free trade agreement, or FTA, between Japan and Chile. I say,...

COMMENTARY

Feb 13, 2003

No shortage of reasons why South Koreans dislike the U.S.

By Brad Glosserman

WASHINGTON -- Opinion polls from around the world show increasing numbers of people believe that the United States is arrogant, unilateralist and indifferent to key concerns of other nations -- even friends and allies. There is a rising belief that the U.S. has become a source of international tension...

COMMENTARY

Feb 13, 2003

The 'vision thing' still matters

By David Howell

LONDON -- In the ideal Middle East "dream scenario," U.N. weapons inspectors, gently prompted by American and British intelligence information, stumble on stores of chemical and biological weapons hidden in Iraq.

COMMENTARY

Feb 12, 2003

Koizumi shirking top duty

By Keizo Nabeshima

Over the past year, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appears to have all but lost his enthusiasm for military contingency legislation. Protecting the lives and property of the Japanese people from armed attack is the most important duty of the prime minister as the supreme commander of the Self-Defense...

COMMENTARY

Feb 11, 2003

Sacrifices for material gain

By Takamitsu Sawa

In the 1980s, Japanese economists used to boast of their country's economic prowess and deride U.S. economic decline. To be sure, the U.S. manufacturing industry in those years fell into a miserable condition, and the nation suffered from ever-expanding trade and budget deficits. Yet things began changing...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 9, 2003

U.S. test of U.N. relevance

By Ramesh Thakur

Time was when those threatening to go to war had to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt. Today we are asked to prove to the powerful, to their satisfaction, why they should not go to war. The U.N. inspectors don't have to prove that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction; Iraqi President Saddam Hussein...

COMMENTARY

Feb 9, 2003

Islamabad seeks fresh start with Moscow

By Farhan Bokhari

ISLAMABAD -- Making his first trip to Russia, Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf arrived in Moscow this month hoping to break new ground. Russia and Pakistan were at odds for years, but over the past decade Pakistan has developed an interest in reaching out to the wider world, irrespective of...

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Feb 8, 2003

Wanted: hosts for U.S. troops

By Constantine Pleshakov

MOSCOW -- Foreign-policy alignments have gone mad worldwide. A bizarre diplomatic coalition consisting of Russia, China, France and Germany now confronts the United States, Britain, Italy and Poland. Who could have imagined such a combination just 10 years ago besides readers of political thrillers?...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 8, 2003

Death and despair await Iraqi civilians

By Cesar Chelala

NEW YORK -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's forceful presentation to the U.N. Security Council failed to convince key council members of the need for an immediate war against Iraq. Concern for the consequences of another conflict in the region could possibly explain France, China and Russia's...

COMMENTARY

Feb 8, 2003

Advice for Roh Moo Hyun

By Ralph Cossa

HONOLULU -- A recent visit by South Korean President-elect Roh Moo Hyun's foreign-policy transition team reveals that the incoming administration's policy toward North Korea is still very much in the formative stage. As a longtime student of Korean security affairs, allow me to offer South Korea's incoming...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 7, 2003

Ancient voices, timeless tales brought back to life

By George Sioris

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- "Thai" or "Tai"?

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.

How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan

By Megha Wadhwa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

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