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August 01, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY

World

World
Japan
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has been weakened by domestic setbacks and uncertain U.S. support as he tries to balance pressure from Beijing and political opposition at home.
COMMENTARY / World
Taiwan’s president is running out of options
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te is battling internal strife while navigating an unpredictable trade war with Washington.
COMMENTARY / World
China’s AI strategy relies on frenzy and frenemies
China’s current AI frenzy represents the best and worst of classic capitalism: The competition propels innovation at a rapid clip, but not all of the companies will survive.
COMMENTARY / World
ASEAN+3 in an age of global uncertainty
As the international economic order continues to fragment, ASEAN+3 countries must build collective resilience by fostering regional integration.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to punish Brazil with tariffs to protect former President Jair Bolsonaro is just one sign that the far right is shifting from rhetoric to real cross-border solidarity that undermines democratic norms.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2025
Trump is trying to build a far-right international alliance
By Jan-Werner Mueller
There has been a lack of concrete solidarity among populist leaders. But Trump is changing that in his second term.
A woman casts her vote during parliamentary elections in Qom, Iran, in March 2012. Regime change in the Islamic country is harder than many think, but it has the institutions needed for democracy if it happens.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2025
Iran is more prepared for democracy than many realize
By Kian Tajbakhsh
Some commentators, like the economist Nouriel Roubini and the Stanford political scientist Abbas Milani, see regime change as plausible or imminent.
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, promises a rent freeze that’s easy to deliver but it remains to be seen if it will solve the city’s deeper housing problems.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2025
Freezing rent is easy. Making NYC housing affordable isn’t.
By Justin Fox
Zohran Mamdani’s campaign pledge would be simple to put into effect but wouldn’t do much to solve the underlying problem.
With tariffs at an 80-year high and the U.S. dollar behaving unpredictably, the Fed should hold off on cutting rates until there’s clear evidence that inflation remains under control.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 27, 2025
The Fed needs to tread carefully with this strange dollar
By Jonathan Levin
Given that range of possibilities, it’s prudent to wait for the data to tell the story, exactly as Fed Chair Jerome Powell is currently planning.
Senate Republicans must undo their reckless confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary, whose anti-vaccine crusade is fueling a deadly measles outbreak and putting more Americans at risk.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 25, 2025
RFK Jr. is making America sick again. Republicans need a cure.
By Michael R. Bloomberg
Kennedy, who has no training in medicine or health, has long been the nation’s foremost peddler of junk science and the crackpot conspiracy theories that flow from it.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to London earlier this month to meet with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer shows how a changing Europe and shifting global threats could let Britain move past Brexit and help shape a new European security order.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2025
Britain and Europe are changing together
By Mark Leonard
Britain can help shape the continent’s new security order, so long as it banishes the Brexit mindset.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff threats seemed effective at first because markets expected him to back down, but as investors grow numb, the risk rises he’ll follow through, triggering the very economic harm his threats were meant to avoid.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2025
Why markets may soon call America’s tariff bluff
By Penelopi Koujianou Goldberg
Complacency brings new risk: If markets tune out Trump’s tariff threats, they may stop checking harmful policies.

Japan on edge but prepared for tsunami after huge Kamchatka earthquake
Police officers ask a man to evacuate from an empty beach following a tsunami warning, in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Wednesday.
Last soldiers of Imperial Japanese Army have a warning for younger generations
Kunshiro Kiyozumi, 97, who was the youngest crew member of the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58 in World War II, on his way to a restaurant to have lunch in Matsuyama, Japan, on April 29.
80 years on, former teacher conveys history of hidden island in World War II
Masayuki Yamauchi explains about the history of Okunoshima, an island in Takehara, Hiroshima Prefecture, to junior high school students visiting in May.
Japan to start new residency system for foreign workers
Students hoping to work in Japan attend a Japanese class at a job placement company in Hanoi in October 2022.
Japan marks highest-ever temperature of 41.2 C in Hyogo
Japan's temperature soared to a record 41.2 degrees Celsius in Tanba, Hyogo Prefecture, on Wednesday, surpassing the previous high of 41.1 C.
Artist Chiharu Shiota weaves a hidden marvel on Teshima
“Memory of Lines” is Chiharu Shiota’s second art installation on Teshima as part of the Setouchi Triennale.
How the Japanese TV industry is changing
Fuji TV headquarters in Tokyo's Minato Ward. Fuji TV came under fire over the manner in which it handled a case of “sexual trouble” involving former boy band member Masahiro Nakai and a female announcer.
Last soldiers of Imperial Japanese Army have a warning for younger generations
Kunshiro Kiyozumi, 97, who was the youngest crew member of the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58 in World War II, on his way to a restaurant to have lunch in Matsuyama, Japan, on April 29.
Why Ishiba refuses to quit even amid intense pressure for him to go
Supporters of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba take part in a rally across the street from the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
Behind the scenes at the Baseball Hall of Fame's new Yakyu/Baseball exhibit
“Yakyu / Baseball: The Transpacific Exchange of the Game” is set to remain on display in Cooperstown for at least five to 10 years — and possibly indefinitely.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear
By Jason Coskrey

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