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COMMENTARY / World

Jun 18, 2008

Neither blatant benevolence nor silent giving

By Peter Singer

PRINCETON, New Jersey — Jesus said that we should give alms in private rather than when others are watching. That fits with the common-sense idea that if people only do good in public, they may be motivated by a desire to gain a reputation for generosity. Perhaps when no one is looking, they are not...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 17, 2008

A vanishing Europe and lifestyle

By Giles Merritt

BRUSSELS — What will it mean to be European 25 years from now? Unlike the United States, whose history as a "melting pot" has given Americans a truly multiethnic character, native Europeans are becoming an endangered species. Europe badly needs immigrants, yet is not culturally prepared to welcome...

COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE

Jun 16, 2008

Reluctant runner viewed as possible Fukuda fill-in

It is expected that a race for Japan's national leadership will start after Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda hosts the summit meeting of the Group of Eight industrialized nations in Toyako, Hokkaido, in July.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 16, 2008

Healing Bolivia at a gloomy political junction

By Juan Gabriel Tokatlian

BUENOS AIRES — Since the mid-19th century, Latin America has suffered fewer interstate wars and undergone less state creation than any other region of the world. The continent has been a relatively quiet periphery because its countries tend neither to fight each other nor to divide from within. Bolivia,...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 16, 2008

The right options for Iran

By Volker Perthes

BERLIN — With U.S. President George W. Bush in Europe getting EU leaders to agree to toughen U.N. sanctions against Iran, and with the ongoing debate between John McCain and Barack Obama about whether the United States needs to talk with Iran's rulers, the issue of Iran's nuclear program is heating...

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Jun 15, 2008

Nuggets of 'wisdom' can speak volumes beyond what's said

By Roger Pulvers

"Biting Comments, Curious Statements and Famous Misstatements" is the headline on the lead article in the June 5 issue of the popular Japanese weekly magazine Bungei Shunju. It features dramatic ejaculations of famous politicians, sports figures and entertainers, among others.

COMMENTARY

Jun 15, 2008

Dose of humility overcomes a world of hurt

By Tom Plate

LOS ANGELES — It is precisely during economic and political tension that more frequent and fervent expressions of sincere humility might serve to smooth over some tough spots. After all, being truly humble can serve to downsize egos that otherwise tend to mushroom minor molehills into major mountain...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 13, 2008

Losing Turkey to a new geopolitical course

By Mark Almond

OXFORD, England — Turkey has long been a haven of geopolitical stability. But since 2003, Turkey's virtually unquestioned alliance with the United States has undergone a profound re-evaluation due to the Iraq War. The Turkish consensus on its decades-long EU candidacy has begun to wobble, owing to...

COMMENTARY

Jun 13, 2008

Scrutable, 'invisible' Japan

By Kazuo Ogoura

The international community of scholars with an interest in Japan is rife with whisperings of Japan's "invisibility."

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 12, 2008

Why do displays of compassion differ between East and West?

By Ian Buruma

NEW YORK — Why are French, British and American warships, but not Chinese or Malaysian warships, sitting near the Burmese coast loaded with food and other necessities for the victims of Cyclone Nargis?

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 12, 2008

Another looming food crisis

By Michael Richardson

The United Nations held a summit in Rome earlier this month to find solutions to the global food crisis. The focus was on grain shortages and high prices that have recently roiled countries around the world, causing mass protests and political instability in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

COMMENTARY

Jun 11, 2008

Washington and Baghdad: the treaty that isn't

By Gwynne Dyer

In the Sherlock Holmes story "Silver Blaze," the world's most famous private detective refers to "the curious incident of the dog in the night." "But the dog did nothing in the night," replies his interlocutor. "That was the curious incident," says Holmes. The dogs aren't barking over the U.S.-Iraq treaty,...

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

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