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COMMENTARY

Nov 2, 2002

Keep the EU elites in check

By David Howell

LONDON -- Presidents and constitutions are the subjects that excite enthusiasts for European integration at the moment, while ordinary citizens of Europe look on a little uneasily. The enthusiasts are making no secret of their earnest desire to "take Europe forward," as they put it, by creating the post...

COMMENTARY

Nov 1, 2002

Coalition poised for offensive

By Kenzo Uchida

In the Oct. 27 runoff parliamentary elections, the three-way ruling coalition won five of seven seats at stake, defeating the four-party opposition alliance. The elections were held in five Lower House and two Upper House constituencies. The coalition victory has created a measure of political stability...

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 1, 2002

A six-party process to clear up the Korean air

By John Barry Kotch

T he crisis over North Korea's attempted acquisition by stealth of a nuclear capability through enriched uranium processing provides a golden opportunity for institutionalizing a process of concerted multilateral diplomacy.

COMMENTARY

Oct 31, 2002

EU facing a bumpy road to expansion

By Andre Fontaine

PARIS -- In December 2000, the 15 members of the European Union signed the Nice Treaty, which was designed to remove the obstacles to the proposed expansion of the EU by 10 countries -- eight from the former Soviet bloc plus plus Cyprus and Malta. Like all treaties, it had to be ratified. Fourteen governments...

COMMENTARY

Oct 31, 2002

China gets handle on weapons exports

By Frank Ching

HONG KONG -- The summit meeting at Crawford between Chinese President Jiang Zemin and U.S. President George W. Bush should usher in a period of relative stability in Chinese-American relations. While unexpected developments -- such as the air collision last year off the Chinese coast -- cannot be ruled...

COMMENTARY

Oct 29, 2002

Liberalize farm trade now

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- Reform of the European Common Agricultural Policy, or CAP, is essential if the European Union's expenditures are to be contained and remain acceptable to European voters as a whole. This summer the European Commission floated some proposals for changes designed not to reduce the overall burden...

COMMENTARY

Oct 28, 2002

Reformists persist in Iran

By Kiroku Hanai

Late last month I made my first visit in 22 years to Iran, where I had covered the Islamic revolution under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini as a Japanese newspaper correspondent. Some conspicuous changes in the country attracted my attention.

COMMENTARY

Oct 28, 2002

Is it deja vu all over again?

By Ralph Cossa

SEOUL -- Is it deja vu all over again on the Korean Peninsula? The short answer is yes . . . and no.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK

Oct 28, 2002

Words of wisdom on U.S. interventionism

By Hiroaki Sato

NEW YORK -- Searching the Internet for information on immigration in the United States, I came across President Grover Cleveland's message to Congress on Dec. 18, 1893. In it he detailed his opposition to the annexation of Hawaii. At the start of that year, a self-styled Committee of Safety, led by foreign...

COMMENTARY

Oct 28, 2002

Just don't call him Senior Minister Jiang

By Tom Plate

LOS ANGELES -- Extreme conservatives would have you simply bomb 'em; extreme liberals would simply have you love 'em. Real life, though, often comes down to a difficult choice between questionable alternatives. And when the issue relates to how to relate to more than a 1.3 billion people, perhaps the...

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 28, 2002

Poverty and poor health go hand in hand

By Cesar Chelala and Manuel Pena

NEW YORK -- Poverty cannot be defined solely in terms of lack of income. A person, a family, even a nation is not deemed poor only because of low economic resources. Little or no access to health services, lack of access to safe water, illiteracy or low educational level and a distorted perception of...

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 27, 2002

War talk doesn't faze Tatar oil people

By Russell Working

KAZAN, Russia -- The Tatar Autonomous Republic is an area where minarets rise above the whitewashed kremlin walls, where Muslim villagers have pitched in to construct more than 1,000 mosques over the decade since the Soviet Union fell apart.

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.

If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

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