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COMMENTARY / World
Jul 11, 2013

Egypt's new revolution endangers democracy

If the junta-led political process can somehow roll back from exclusion and media repression, Egypt may yet see a transition similar to Turkey's after 1997.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / GAME OF NUMBERS
Jul 9, 2013

Tech-savvy candidates hope to reach young voters via online campaigns

For Kan Suzuki, a tech-savvy Upper House member, the Internet is a powerful campaign tool that he can use to help him win a third term at a time when his party is facing so much adversity.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 4, 2013

Anti-corruption outsiders join political hurly-burly in India

They wore little white caps, called themselves "the common man," fasted for days and shouted slogans against politicians during massive anti-corruption demonstrations two years ago.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jul 1, 2013

Clinton super PAC attracts donors — as well as worries

The campaign has a flashy website and official logo T-shirts and signs. Prominent Democrats have endorsed it and written $25,000 checks. Its paid operatives and volunteers have set up shop in a suburban strip mall office that last housed the regional campaign headquarters for Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine....
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jul 1, 2013

Xi regime swinging to the left

Disturbing rumors are spreading that, sometime this fall, there will be a large-scale purge of reformist members from the Chinese Communist Party.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 1, 2013

Hezbollah leader nears sundown

Recent victories by Hezbollah militiamen in Syria will not save the regime of Bashar Assad. They could presage the political sunset for Hezbollah's leader.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2013

Taksim Square and the new ways of mobilizing

Turkey's democratic opposition can address flaws of the system only if it recognizes the need for very different forms of mobilization from those of the past.
EDITORIALS
Jun 20, 2013

Persuading people to vote

When apathy rules, what more can political parties and local election officials do to encourage a greater Japanese voter turnout for July's Upper House election
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Jun 18, 2013

Readers' letters: praise for Article 9, scorn for TPP and concerns for education

Some readers' letters in response to recent Community articles:
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 16, 2013

Indonesia 15 years after the New Order

In May 1998 President Suharto resigned, ending three decades in power in Indonesia and what was known as the New Order. As an army general, he had intervened against a coup attempt in 1965 that ended with the sidelining of President Sukarno and months of massacres all over the archipelago as Suharto...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 9, 2013

Sifting through the rubble of Hashimoto's political ambitions

In 1995, the late University of Illinois professor David G. Goodman observed that when serious disagreements arise between Japanese people and foreigners, the former invariably internalize the debate among themselves.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jun 2, 2013

British wave washes over U.S. media market

The British are coming — actually, they're already here. And they're running some of America's top media and entertainment companies and successfully peddling their shows, newspapers and magazines to the former colonies.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 18, 2013

As LDP rides high, are factions biding time?

In late April at an upscale hotel in Tokyo, more than 100 people thronged to have their photo taken with Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 4, 2013

The French left turns on Francois Hollande

The freshly cut inscription on the marble "tombstone" was savage and to the point: "Betrayal! Here lie the promises of F. Hollande which were made to workers and their families in Florange on 24 February 2012. From the steelworkers of Lorraine." With barely suppressed anger and bitterness, Frederic Weber,...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 1, 2013

Fringe independence party sends shivers down Tory spines

Landing on doormats across Somerset in recent weeks has been a Tory election leaflet the like of which locals have never seen before: "A vote for UKIP is a vote for the Lib Dems. UKIP has no plans or policies for Somerset. Only the Conservatives can deliver an In/Out referendum by 2017."
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 20, 2013

Populism without the people

Nicolas Maduro's narrow win in Venezuela's presidential election raises an important question: Can populism thrive without a popular, charismatic leader?
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 17, 2013

When the zombies attack, you'll need your gun

The zombie craze sweeping the U.S. is a warning to baby boomers: Our children are worried that the fortifications along the wall might not hold. Let's hope there's time to leave them a different legacy.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / JAPAN-CHINA RELATIONS SYMPOSIUM
Mar 26, 2013

Private sector urged to do more to help rebuild Japan-China relations

The private sector has a key role in the efforts to rebuild mutual trust between Japan and China as political disputes begin to affect economic relations, experts from the two countries said at a recent symposium in Tokyo.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 21, 2013

A decade after U.S. invasion, Iraq torn between progress and chaos

Ten years after the United States barreled into Iraq with extraordinary force and a perilous lack of foresight, the country is neither the failed state that seemed all but inevitable during the darkest days of the war nor the model democracy the Americans set out to build.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2013

Venezuela left with good potential

Hugo Chavez changed the political psychology of Venezuela, which now has the potential to be a Saudi Arabia with democracy. That is not a bad thing.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 1, 2013

Wake-up call for Asia's leaders

Whether East Asia's politicians and pundits like it or not, the region's current international relations are more akin to those of Europe before World War I.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2013

Rising son can't resolve India's leadership crisis

When Rahul Gandhi was formally anointed to the number two position in India's Congress party, his installation as vice president was accompanied by the usual shenanigans among party operatives.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 19, 2013

Israel prepares for next act in the great moving right show

Dalya Steinberger's journey across Israel's political landscape began more than 20 years ago when she cast a vote for Labor, one of almost a million people who helped propel Yitzhak Rabin to the leadership of the Jewish state. A year later, in 1993, Rabin signed the historic Oslo Accords, shaking hands...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 13, 2013

Rockefeller calls time on dynasty

Jay Rockefeller's uncle Nelson was a vice president. His uncle Winthrop was a senator, as was his great-grandfather Nelson. But the great American electoral dynasty abruptly ended Friday when Rockefeller said he will not seek re-election in 2014 after nearly three decades in the Senate.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 8, 2013

U.S. imagination goes wild regarding Iranian 'threat'

Reading the text of a bill that was recently signed into law by U.S. President Barack Obama would instill fear in the hearts of ordinary Americans.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 31, 2012

Even language has winners and losers

If there's one thing to be sure of in Japan these days, it's that by the end of the year you will have a prime minister different from the one you started out with. This year was the sixth year in succession to follow this pattern. Somewhat differently, though, this year there was a general election...
EDITORIALS
Dec 21, 2012

Ms. Park returns to the Blue House

Ms. Park Geun Hye has eked out a victory in South Korea's presidential election. The conservative candidate narrowly bested progressive rival Moon Jae In in a contest whose outcome was not apparent until the votes were counted.
JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Dec 18, 2012

DPJ blows chance to establish two-party rule

It took 54 years for the nation's politics to produce a viable opposition party, and 39 months for it to self-destruct after winning power, splintering prospects for an enduring policy-driven two-party system.
COMMENTARY
Dec 5, 2012

Cast your ballots carefully

Disillusionment with politicians and established political parties has been growing in democratic countries for some time. Politicians are increasingly seen as venal. Some are incompetent and ignorant. Many are often arrogant and conceited. But we cannot do without them.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years