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COMMENTARY

Apr 14, 2003

Implications of the Iraq war

By Ralph Cossa

HONOLULU -- Why diplomacy failed in Iraq remains a subject of intense debate. Even Baghdad's supporters could not argue that Iraq had fully complied with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441, which found Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime in material breach of numerous earlier resolutions and promised...

COMMENTARY

Apr 14, 2003

China stumbles on SARS and Pyongyang

By Tom Plate

LOS ANGELES -- Mistake-making is a common occupation of governments everywhere, but lately the Chinese government has made two monster blunders that uncomfortably reopen the question of whether China has made all that much progress after all. The issues concern North Korea and severe acute respiratory...

EDITORIALS

Apr 14, 2003

Easing cash flow for small firms

Small businesses in Japan are having severe cash-flow difficulties, even though the Bank of Japan is pumping plenty of money into the banking system. This is because debt-burdened banks are following restrictive lending practices. In an unprecedented move to help those cash-strapped companies, the central...

EDITORIALS

Apr 13, 2003

In search of the real al-Jazeera

The war in Iraq hasn't been easy for nonparticipants such as Japan to sort out. The most obvious villains were also technically the victims, and the perpetrators of hostilities have looked like invaders one minute, liberators the next. Perceptions and judgments could, and still do, shift like the wind....

COMMENTARY

Apr 13, 2003

Thailand seeks an advantage

By Brad Glosserman

HONOLULU -- Southeast Asian politicians and business professionals continue to insist that China's rise is "an opportunity, not a threat" to their future. That sounds a lot like whistling past the graveyard. The Chinese market is so big and has such a wealth of human and material resources that conventional...

COMMENTARY

Apr 13, 2003

Rebuilding Iraq to be better than before

By Farhan Bokhari

ISLAMABAD -- U.S. President George W. Bush has repeatedly spoken of creating an environment of political freedom for the people of Iraq, where at least one generation, if not two, has grown up under the shadow of President Saddam Hussein. But there are a number of unanswered questions influencing Iraq's...

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 13, 2003

From polarization to U.N. reconstruction

By George Sioris

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- A future historian will almost certainly view the current tragedy in Iraq more calmly than so many of today's analysts and commentators. As the drama is screened from sophisticated command rooms to the remotest television-equipped hut in a far corner of the world, emotions prevail...

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 13, 2003

Chinese deserve grown-up party leaders

By David Wall

SEOUL -- The leaders of the Chinese Communist Party want the world to believe that the government they control is fit to be accepted as a full-fledged mature member of the global community. But is it? There have to be some doubts.

EDITORIALS

Apr 12, 2003

Bringing stability to Iraq

By all indications, the war in Iraq is about to end. Baghdad has fallen, with U.S. and British forces having seized key government buildings in the city. Surprisingly, they have met little organized resistance from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's loyal troops and militias. It comes as a great relief...

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 12, 2003

Sizing up America after Iraq

By Eric Teo Chu Cheow

SINGAPORE -- Three weeks into the war in Iraq, the main protagonists are already retooling their strategies for dealing with the United States. China, Russia, France, Germany, Britain, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines and, lastly, North Korea (most likely the next target of American ire) have...

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 12, 2003

Slash taxes and spending, not interest rates

By Christopher Lingle

UBUD, Indonesia -- Alan Greenspan denounced the recent round of tax-cut proposals by the Bush administration. As governor of the world's most important central bank, his words carry a considerable amount of gravitas.

COMMENTARY

Apr 12, 2003

Unilateralism is no solution

By Kenzo Uchida

The war in Iraq is coming to an end with a decisive victory in sight for the U.S. and British coalition forces. However, I still have doubts about this military adventure. When it began, I described the invasion as President George W. Bush's "personal war without justification" against Iraqi President...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.

The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

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