Search - politics

 
 
The United Nations Security Council holds a vote during a meeting on the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine at the bodies headquarters in New York on Feb. 24.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jun 26, 2025

Democracy shouldn’t be used as an ideological weapon

The democracy-vs-autocracy framing has widened the divide between democratic countries — “us” — and Russia and its allies — “them.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney meets with U.S. President Donald Trump at the Group of Seven summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, on June 16.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 29, 2025

Canada's middle power myths give way to harsh realities

The goal is not to become America’s 51st state but to make such absorption unthinkable because Canada provides more value as a sovereign partner.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thailand's prime minister, speaks to the media in Bangkok on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 1, 2025

Dynasty in distress: Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn's fate in limbo

The Constitutional Court suspended Paetongtarn — Thailand's youngest prime minister — from office.
A Self-Defense Forces tank unit takes part in parade at Camp Asaka, near Tokyo, in October 2018. The percentage of GDP spent on defense is a politically convenient but flawed metric that oversimplifies the complex realities of alliance management.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 2, 2025

In the Trump era, how much should countries really be spending on defense?

In truth, the “percentage of GDP” approach is a political one, not a practical one
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson (right) poses with U.S. Rep. John Rutherford on the day of a vote on final passage of U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping spending and tax bill, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 4, 2025

Republicans and Democrats look at how to use Trump's tax-cut bill in 2026 elections

Democrats view the cuts to Medicaid and food assistance in U.S. President Donald Trump's bill as ready ammunition for their future campaign.
Supporters of candidates put up campaign posters on a bulletin board in Tokyo on Thursday, as the official campaigning for the July 20 Upper House election begins. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 4, 2025

The dilemma facing Japan’s rising (and falling) populist parties

A working relationship with ruling parties is key to achieving their policy goals, but at the risk of losing their populist brand and voters.
The Arch of Independence in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Central Asia is shaking off its Soviet past, driven by economic momentum, demographic strength and strategic diplomacy, even as hurdles remain.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2025

Central Asia changes its playbook

In recent years, the five Central Asian countries have managed to rebuild their economies, stabilize their politics and deepen their engagement with the rest of the world.
Elon Musk said his "America Party” is dedicated to defeating Republicans who backed U.S. President Donald Trump’s massive tax-cut and spending bill.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 8, 2025

Musk faces a daunting path in challenging U.S. two-party system

Musk announced the birth of the "America Party” — dedicated, he said, to defeating Republicans who backed Trump’s massive tax-cut and spending bill.
Evgeniya Mayboroda sits in the defendant's dock during the announcement of the verdict in her case at the municipal court of Shakhty, Rostov Oblast, Russia, on Jan. 29, 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 8, 2025

The strange case of Evgeniya Mayboroda, Russia's rebel retiree

The 72-year-old's transformation from fan to critic says much about the state of today's Russia under Vladimir Putin.
Once seen as an unlikely prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba has struggled to deliver on promises, mishandled ties with U.S. President Donald Trump and now faces an election where the odds don’t look good for his party to come out victorious.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 18, 2025

A trade deal fumble could be Ishiba’s last mistake

Ishiba already leads a coalition that lacks a majority in the Lower House, and another bad showing Sunday will likely mean Japan is looking for its third leader in as many years.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves concurrently as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, leaves at the party's headquarters following announcement of Upper House election result projections in Tokyo early Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 21, 2025

Japan ruling bloc loses majority in Upper House after election drubbing

The ruling LDP-Komeito coalition's devastating loss in Sunday’s poll could lead to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s resignation or political gridlock in parliament.
Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, in Tokyo on Sunday. Smaller conservative parties such as the DPP gained in the election at the weekend, at the expense of the Liberal Democratic Party.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 21, 2025

Conservatives win big in Japan — just not the Liberal Democratic Party

Sunday's election marks the first time the once-proud party has lost a majority in both houses since its foundation in 1955.
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

Britain can help shape the continent’s new security order, so long as it banishes the Brexit mindset.
Members of the Sudanese army walk past a destroyed military vehicle and bombed buildings in the state of Khartoum on March 26.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 25, 2025

Sudan's Islamists plot postwar comeback by supporting army

The Islamist movement was toppled in Sudan's uprising in 2019.
Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya speaks at a rally in Tokyo on July 21, a day after the Upper House election.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 29, 2025

A fringe party or political force: Will the real Sanseito stand up?

There were a few things that might raise eyebrows, but nothing especially scary. Sanseito's published policy platform is relatively benign.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meets with Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok in Tokyo on May 22.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 31, 2025

Japan’s strategic blind spot in the heart of Europe

Central Europe may hold the key to increased strategic autonomy without the geopolitical baggage of the superpowers.
U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 2, 2025

Trump fires data chief on bad job news and gets chance to tilt Fed

Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, hours after it sent markets tumbling with a report that showed a dramatic slowdown in U.S. hiring.
U.S. President Donald Trump raises his fist as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Aug 3, 2025

Trump’s economic agenda is losing support, but Democrats see few gains

Democrats looking to retake the House of Representatives need to convince voters they can be trusted on issues like fighting inflation and lowering the cost of housing.
Dalton Henry Stout, a member of the white nationalist group Aryan Freedom Network, conceals his identity during a portrait session in southern Oklahoma on May 5.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 11, 2025

American Nazis: The Aryan Freedom Network is riding high in Trump era

American neo-Nazis point to Trump’s rhetoric as driving a surge in interest and recruitment.
Andrew Bosworth, Meta’s chief technology officer; Bob McGrew, an adviser at Thinking Machines Lab and OpenAI’s former chief research officer; Shyam Sankar, Palantir’s chief technology officer; and Kevin Weil, OpenAI’s chief product officer at a military ceremony in Arlington, Va., in June 2025. The four current and former executives were pronounced lieutenant colonels in a new unit, Detachment 201, which will advise the Army on new technologies for potential combat.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 11, 2025

Silicon Valley is in its ‘hard tech’ era

Instead of the tap-to-pay apps of a decade ago like Clinkle and Bump, young companies are now making unmanned aerial drones stocked with AI-guided Barracuda cruise missiles.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade delegation, comprising Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, meets with Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Li Chenggang and Vice Premier He Lifeng in Geneva on May 10 to discuss tariffs and trade issues.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 12, 2025

Trump’s transactional approach shapes U.S.-China rivalry

There are intense debates about how the U.S. can prevail in that struggle but there are no signs that a single strategy guides the administration.
Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto (left) and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Walter Mondale during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo in April 1996 announcing the decision to return to Japan the site for the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station in Okinawa Prefecture
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 17, 2025

Okinawa’s backers in LDP dwindle, prompting concern

At present, not many lawmakers are putting priority on Okinawa after measures taken by the government in the past for the development of the prefecture produced certain results.
Yoshihiko Noda, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (center) attends a Lower House session on Aug. 1. The former prime minister has signaled he’s ready to take his conciliatory approach to the government to new heights, hinting that the time for clashes with the Liberal Democratic Party is over.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 20, 2025

CDP softens stance toward LDP in bid to bolster political center

“Right-wing populism has grown too strong,” CDP leader Yoshihiko Noda said. “Unless the center gains more strength, Japanese politics won’t improve.”
Nuclear weapons may have prevented global war through deterrence, but today’s shifting threats require adaptable strategies and strong leadership to avoid catastrophe.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 26, 2025

How humanity can avoid starting World War III

As a new nuclear age dawns, the U.S. must once again adjust its policies with foresight and flexibility, resisting both technological determinism and political destabilization.
Thailand's suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra gestures as she arrives at the Constitutional Court in Bangkok on Aug. 21.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 28, 2025

Powerful Thai court again to decide fate of Thaksin-aligned prime minister

The case against Paetongtarn Shinawatra shows how the country’s conservative establishment can thwart governments and engineer military-backed rule.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was ousted as Thai prime minister on Friday, arrives at Government House in Bangkok ahead of the Constitutional Court's verdict.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 29, 2025

Thai court ousts PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra for ethics violation 

The decision marks another crushing blow to the Shinawatra political dynasty and could usher in a new period of turmoil.
Voters look at posters of candidates for an Upper House election outside a polling station in Tokyo on July 20. The young abandoned the ruling Liberal Democratic Party for other conservative and newer parties in the recent poll. REUTERS
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 31, 2025

What is a ‘Japanese conservative’ in this day and age?

My view is that younger voters saw the LDP as a group of elderly, self-absorbed elitists who were out of touch with the issues that mattered to them.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was dismissed as Thailand's prime minister by the Constitutional Court last Friday, leaves the court in Bangkok following a news conference after her removal.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 1, 2025

Persecuted Thai pro-democracy party now poised to play kingmaker

The People’s Party, which has been in opposition since a 2023 election despite winning the most seats, is being courted by rival groups seeking to form a government.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un smokes a cigarette before departing Pyongyang by special train to China in this image released Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 2, 2025

North Korea’s Kim arrives in Beijing for debut on multilateral stage

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to join Chinese leader Xi Jinping for a military parade on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama attend the LDP’s plenary meeting in Tokyo on Aug. 8. Once dominant, the ruling party is now struggling to maintain control amid calls for Ishiba to step down.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 4, 2025

Dragging on the LDP’s political drama does little for Japan

From dominance to doubt, the ruling party struggles to maintain control.

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