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COMMENTARY

Mar 30, 2002

Power to the EU's people

By David Howell

LONDON -- Yet another disappointing European summit, this time in Barcelona, has left more and more people asking whether this is the right way to proceed with the European project. Is the existing European model the right one? The goal is supposed to be for a liberalized Europe to catch up with the...

COMMENTARY

Mar 30, 2002

Official foreign aid leaves needy wanting

By Doug Bandow

LAHORE, Pakistan -- One of Lahore's small Christian communities sits on army land, and thus constitutes an illegal occupation in the government's view. Most homes have one room, the latrines are makeshift, and families are lucky to survive on $20 a month.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 30, 2002

Environmental disaster feeds terrorism

By Juha I. Uitto

WASHINGTON -- The rise of militant Islam in Central Asia has been driven by poverty and lack of human rights. While undemocratic regimes and the dearth of economic opportunities create resentment among the people, environmental destruction adds to the misery.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 29, 2002

Fresh irritants may still derail Sino-Japan ties

By Hisane Masaki

Like Tokyo's cherry-blossoms-dotted landscape at this time of year, relations between Japan and China appear to have sprung back to life -- and in bloom again after a winter of chill and frost.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 29, 2002

Davos themes dazzle with Webcasting

By John Barry Kotch

SEOUL -- If you missed Davos in New York last month, you have a rain check coming via the miracle of Webcasting. The more important panels will be broadcast at the World Economic Forum's Web site ( www.weforum.org ), starting Monday. Don't pass up this intellectual cyberfest for the netizen!

COMMENTARY

Mar 28, 2002

New focus on security pushes nuclear deterrence to the fore

By Brahma Chellaney

NEW DELHI -- In the post-Sept. 11 environment, nuclear-weapons issues had acquired a lower profile in international relations as the controversy generated by America's missile-defense plans, the ongoing deadlock at the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament and the coma-like state of the Comprehensive...

COMMENTARY

Mar 28, 2002

Strategy for attacking Iraq

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- Ample evidence suggests that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is determined to develop weapons of mass destruction and terror. There are reports of various underground laboratories working on biological and chemical weapons and possibly on nuclear devices. Iraq probably also managed to hide from...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 28, 2002

Occupation and terrorism: Israeli-Palestinian politics from the barrel of a gun

By James Packard Winkler

JERUSALEM -- The political battle continues in the Middle East through gun barrels rather than across negotiating tables.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 27, 2002

Don't apologize to Li Peng

By David Wall

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Get out the bunting! Li Peng is on his way! One of the people that former U.S. President Bill Clinton described as the "butchers of Beijing" and now chairman of the National People's Congress, or China's "rubber stamp" Parliament, Li was the Chinese premier at the time of the Tiananmen...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 27, 2002

Explosive issues dominate Arab summit

By David Hirst

BEIRUT -- Arab summits may deal with any matter of common concern to the 22 member states of the "Arab Nation." The matter may be "ordinary" or "emergency," but in practice the more or less permanent emergency of Palestine has furnished 90 percent of their resolutions. Only occasionally have other issues...

COMMENTARY

Mar 26, 2002

Getting tough on bid rigging

By Kiroku Hanai

Japanese newspapers are awash with scandals over bidding for public works projects. Japan's construction industry, which accounts for more than 10 percent of the nation's employed workers, is the world's largest. It is unconscionable that this important industry has become a hotbed of collusion among...

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK

Mar 25, 2002

Lighthearted songs for the heaviest of times

By Hiroaki Sato

NEW YORK -- My colleague Jeff passed on to me a writer's query posted on the Internet. As it happened, the inquiring writer was a novelist of whom I am a fan, and the subject on which he sought help was intriguing. He wanted to know about Japanese popular songs -- especially popular military songs --...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.

A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan

By Hanako Lowry

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

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