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September 17, 2025

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COMMENTARY

Sep 15, 2007

U.S. marking time in Iraq

By Gwynne Dyer

LONDON — The thing to remember about U.S. Gen. David Petraeus' report to Congress on the progress made by the American military "surge" in Iraq is that he is basically reporting on his own performance. Nothing in a review of his past career suggests that he is prone to downplay his own achievements,...

COMMENTARY

Sep 15, 2007

Taiwan's sad quest for U.N. membership

By Ramesh Thakur

WATERLOO, Ontario — As the United Nations General Assembly begins its annual session later this month, it will refuse once again to confront an issue where the denial of reality intersects with a negation of the world body's core values.

EDITORIALS

Sep 15, 2007

China opens window on military

China has taken two steps to increase the transparency of its military. The decision to resume providing data to the United Nations register on trade in conventional weapons and to participate in the U.N. Military Transparency Mechanism will provide some insight into what China is doing in this sensitive...

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 14, 2007

Role of EU a year after war in Lebanon

By Mai Yamani

LONDON — It has been almost one year since the European Union committed to stabilize Lebanon following last summer's war. With its decision to send thousands of soldiers to Lebanon to implement U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, the EU took its boldest step yet in creating a common foreign and...

EDITORIALS

Sep 14, 2007

Ever ambivalent APEC

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), once derided as "four adjectives in search of a noun," is a study in frustration. APEC's strongest asset is also its greatest weakness. The group is made up of 21 member economies that account for 41 percent of the world's output and 50 percent of world trade....

COMMENTARY

Sep 14, 2007

Diverted from 9/11's lessons

By Ramzy Baroud

NEW YORK — Osama bin Laden has once again managed to occupy the stage and to insist on his relevance to the 9/11 story. In his most recent video message, released by Reuters a few days before the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, bin Laden voiced some typically...

COMMENTARY

Sep 13, 2007

Lashing out at U.S. won't help Taiwan

By Brad Glosserman

TAIPEI — For all the divisions that define Taiwan politics, parties on both ends of the political spectrum agree on one thing: The island is in trouble. At that point, however, they part ways.

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 13, 2007

Twisting history for unpleasant purposes

By Ian Buruma

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, New York — U.S. President George W. Bush is not generally known for his firm grasp of history. But this has not stopped him from using history to justify his policies. In a recent speech to American war veterans in Kansas City, he defended his aim to "stay the course" in Iraq by...

EDITORIALS

Sep 13, 2007

Mr. Abe calls it a day

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's sudden announcement of his resignation came as a surprise, even to his close aides. Just two days before, he had delivered a policy speech at the start of the extraordinary Diet session, and 15 days before, he had reshuffled his Cabinet.

COMMENTARY

Sep 13, 2007

Europe's quarreling crew

By David Howell

LONDON — The European Union is again entering stormy seas. Like a ship with a mutinous crew it is drifting dangerously while above and below decks arguments rage about how Europe should be run. The EU has weathered past crises and often emerged stronger, but this time the rocks ahead are very large,...

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 12, 2007

Twilight of Pervez Musharraf's career

By Ian Bremmer

PRAGUE — It is said that political power in Pakistan flows from the three A's: Allah, the army, and support from America. Of the three, it is the army leadership that has the clearest means of ridding the country of Pakistan's president in uniform, Pervez Musharraf. And that's the main reason any power-sharing...

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 12, 2007

Nuclear steps undermine global peace

By Jimmy Carter

PRAGUE — By abandoning many of the nuclear arms agreements negotiated in the last 50 years, the United States has been sending mixed signals to North Korea, Iran and other nations with the technical knowledge to create nuclear weapons. Currently proposed agreements with India compound this quagmire...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.

Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

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