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COMMENTARY

Apr 3, 2009

Small-scale abductions that can trigger war

By Tom Plate

BANGKOK — Even relatively small misunderstandings, festering underground over time and eating into the foundations of stability, can cause wars. Some poisons work immediately; other poisons take time.

COMMENTARY

Apr 3, 2009

Netanyahu's fig leaf buffer

By Gwynne Dyer

LONDON — "I am not afraid of Bibi (Netanyahu). I will not be anybody's fig leaf," said Ehud Barak, leader of Israel's Labor Party, defending his decision to join the hard-right coalition government formed by Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu. But off in the distance there was a curious whirring noise....

COMMENTARY

Apr 2, 2009

Women should lead Russia

By David Howell

Do not underestimate Russia. That is just what many commentators are doing these days as they look at its declining population, its collapsing stock market, its dangerous reliance on oil and gas exports, the dismal style of its political leadership, its docile parliament, its aggressive foreign policy,...

COMMENTARY

Apr 1, 2009

China versus the Dalai Lama

By Brahma Chellaney

On the 60th anniversary of his escape to India, the exiled 14th Dalai Lama stands as a bigger challenge than ever for China, as underscored by Beijing's stepped-up vilification campaign against him and its admission that it is now locked in a "life and death struggle" over Tibet.

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 1, 2009

Group of 20 too diverse to succeed

By Kevin Rafferty

HONG KONG — Amid great fanfare, pestered by a rainbow alliance of protesters, and protected by almost blanket security costing $30 million for a mere seven hours of meetings and making London a virtual no-go area, the leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) countries meet this week, promising to restore hope...

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 1, 2009

Hubris paved way to crisis

By Daniel Cloud

PRINCETON, New Jersey — To understand how we got ourselves into our current economic mess, complicated explanations about derivatives, regulatory failure, and so on are beside the point. The best answer is both ancient and simple: hubris.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 31, 2009

Water, water everywhere but . . .

By Shobha Shukla

ISTANBUL, CITIZEN NEWS SERVICE — Water constitutes about three-fourths of Earth's surface, but only less than 1 percent of it can be used by its inhabitants. Most of it consists of saltwater oceans (about 97 percent), and 2 percent of that is contained in glaciers. With every country seeking to satisfy...

COMMENTARY

Mar 30, 2009

Here we go again: coaxing the North to shoot straight

By Ralph Cossa

HONOLULU — North Korean "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il is a hard person to like; he is even a harder person to ignore. At a time when the rest of the world would prefer to focus its attention elsewhere, the North Korean leader is trying his best to shine the spotlight on the one area of the world where...

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Mar 29, 2009

Japan shows how a good's no good unless it's a character good

By Roger Pulvers

"Novels you can eat" was the title of an article in the Asahi Shimbun on March 16. It drew on the initiative displayed by a confectionery-maker in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, to commemorate this year's 100th anniversary of the birth of bohemian author Osamu Dazai. That initiative involves a box of 18...

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK

Mar 29, 2009

Hold the SOS call on the Japanese language

By Hiroaki Sato

Will the Japanese language die, crushed by the onslaught of English? This question has set off some heated talk in Japan recently because of a book suggesting that it may. First, a friend of mine in Tokyo, a member of a small reading club, told me about it. Then another friend wrote to say the book became...

COMMENTARY

Mar 27, 2009

China shelves dispute over right of passage

By Frank Ching

HONG KONG — Ahead of the first meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao, scheduled to take place in London next week, China has backed down, temporarily at least, in its dispute with the United States over whether U.S. Navy ships require Chinese permission before...

COMMENTARY

Mar 27, 2009

Perks of the warring states

By Ramesh Thakur

WATERLOO, Ontario — Since the end of World War II, America, Britain and Israel have been among the countries most heavily involved in war and armed conflict. Don't expect to see any of their political or military leaders in an international criminal dock anytime soon.

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.

What comes after 100?

By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

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