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COMMENTARY / World

Jun 12, 2004

Conviction, vision led Reagan to greatness

By Michael R. Czinkota

WASHINGTON -- A great man has died, moving a piece of the present into history. It is a history that many of us have been part of and that shapes our future.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 12, 2004

Time is ripe to establish G20

By Ramesh Thakur

In foreign policy speeches in Washington on April 29 and Montreal on May 10, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin proposed the creation of a new group of 20 countries (G20) at the heads-of-government level as the forum of choice for tackling pressing global problems.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 12, 2004

Korean democracy passes test

By Gerald L. Curtis

NEW YORK -- Politics in Japan and South Korea are a study in contrasts. It is nearly impossible to identify the polic differences between Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Democrats. In South Korea, on the other hand, the ruling Uri Party, which now controls both the presidency...

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Jun 11, 2004

Simple visionary hastened Soviet collapse

By Constantine Pleshakov

MOSCOW -- Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who died last week after a long and dehumanizing struggle with Alzheimer's disease, will be remembered by most as one of the last great figures of the 20th century.

COMMENTARY

Jun 10, 2004

China woos influence with softer style

By Frank Ching

HONG KONG -- Publicly, American officials such as Secretary of State Colin Powell are saying that relations with China are the best they have ever been. Privately, however, policymakers are not shy about admitting that the two countries are engaged in a diplomatic contest in many arenas, most notably...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 10, 2004

Australians sense vulnerability

By Alan Goodall

SYDNEY -- How safe is sleepy Australia from terror within? Very unsafe, it seems, from the belated jailing of the first person convicted under Canberra's new antiterror laws. Moreover, if it takes four years after Australian police were warned about him to catch this convert to Islam and would-be bomber,...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 9, 2004

Washington is now free to give up on its East Asian allies

By Robyn Lim

The United States recently announced that it will soon send to Iraq one of the two brigades of the Second Infantry Division (2ID) currently stationed in South Korea. There was virtually no consultation with Seoul, and the Pentagon is making no promises that these troops will ever go back. Now unconfirmed...

COMMENTARY

Jun 9, 2004

Much on the line this month for Europe

By David Howell

LONDON — June is proving to be a traumatic month for Europeans and a busy one for their leaders.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 8, 2004

Inflation targeting can hurt the econom

By Christopher Lingle

PARIS -- Many central bankers have been singing the praises of inflation targeting as a way to guarantee stable price levels and bring about sustained economic growth. For its part, the Bank of England helped pioneer inflation targeting and is credited with successfully holding deviations within 1 percentage...

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Jun 7, 2004

Putin looks back to the future

By Constantine Pleshakov

MOSCOW -- A new catchphrase is making the rounds in Moscow: "We have already seen that." Summing up the results of the first four-year term of President Vladimir Putin, the expression is a far cry from flattery, as it refers not to the reforms of Peter the Great but to the return of the cult of personality...

COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE

Jun 7, 2004

Frustrating times for left and right alike

By Bob Keefe

WASHINGTON -- It is frustrating being a fan of one of the two main contenders for U.S. president. I find the level of disgruntlement at an all-time high among both Republicans and Democrats.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 6, 2004

Superpower-in-the-making faces hurdles

By Eric Teo Chu Cheow

SINGAPORE -- The enlargement of Europe on May 1 was another historic milestone for the world's only "federal" entity of sovereign states sharing a common currency and an increasing number of foreign-policy and security attributes. Today's Europe stands at 25 nations with a combined population of 455...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.

Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.

By Tomoko Otake

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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