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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 11, 2023

Thanks for the tanks, but send Ukraine Abrams and Leopards too

Western angst about deploying “offensive” weapons is misplaced. Ukraine's entire struggle is self-defense. They need the weapons.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 10, 2023

Looking for the endgame to Sino-U.S. competition

The question asked by some in the West is not “Do we want China to succeed or fail?” but rather, “How do we manage China's continuing rise?”
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / The Year Ahead
Jan 10, 2023

Testing times ahead for Beijing

Will China's ideological doubling down on the state over the market continue to impede its overall economic growth performance?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 8, 2023

Frederick the Great’s advice for Ukraine negotiations

Kyiv and Moscow both grasp what the 18th-century King of Prussia understood: Diplomacy without arms is like music without instruments.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2023

Russian Muppets or American puppets?

The experience in the 1990s of trying to introduce “Sesame Street” to Russia offers valuable insights into the Russian mind.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2023

No, vaccines aren’t making new COVID-19 variants worse

The omicron sequel XBB.1.5 is driving a new wave of COVID-19 infections — and misinformation.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / The Year Ahead
Jan 6, 2023

Is economic failure an economics failure?

It is clear that an ever-growing number of people hold democratic capitalism in disrepute, and economists along with it. But how much responsibility do economists bear for our ills?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2023

It’s now clear that quantitative easing was a colossal policy mistake

There's no convincing evidence that central banks' purchases of trillions of dollars of bonds and other financial assets helped any economy.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 5, 2023

Iran warns France over 'insulting' Khamenei cartoons

Tehran is seeking an explanation from the French government after the magazine Charlie Hebdo published cartoons depicting Iran's supreme leader.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 4, 2023

Eating the last cannibals

The dangerous new trend among right-wing leaders such as Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is to openly embrace criminality.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / The Year Ahead
Jan 3, 2023

The return of the end of history

Without political checks and balances, free media and an independent civil society, autocrats do not receive the feedback needed to make wise and competent decisions.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 2, 2023

Four ancient truths to help you lead a modern life

The old Greek philosophers struggled with the same hard questions we're still asking today: What makes life worth living? What makes us thrive as human beings?
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 31, 2022

Former Pope Benedict dies at age 95

Former Pope Benedict XVI, who died Saturday at age 95, had been living a quiet life inside the Vatican grounds since his shock decision to step down in 2013.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 30, 2022

What is the link between winter storms and climate change?

While the link between global warming and heat waves is very direct, the behavior of winter storms is governed by complex atmospheric dynamics.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 29, 2022

King penguins survived hunters. Now they face climate change.

As global warming makes the polar front drift southwards, the Crozet Islands could soon become uninhabitable for king penguins.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / The Year Ahead
Dec 29, 2022

Dissecting the ties between war and populism

Russia may no longer be the totalitarian society that Nikita Khrushchev ruled six decades ago, but totalitarianism seemingly remains in its DNA.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 28, 2022

Saving the bees isn’t the same as saving the planet

Mother Nature spent millions of years creating the most efficient pollinator on the planet. We owe it to the bees to save them.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 28, 2022

India’s looming demographic divide

As it prepares to overtake China as the world's most populous country, India is struggling to harness the economic benefits of its declining mortality and fertility rates.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 28, 2022

Don’t turn your hobby into a side hustle

It's not good for our mental health to assess the potential profitability of every pastime.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Women at Work
Dec 27, 2022

Battling the odds to rise to the top: One woman's career in the IT sector

Yuki Shingu found taking a career break to help nurse her ailing father gave her a broader perspective on her rise through company ranks.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2022

It is time Europe begins Russia-proofing itself

The West, and especially the European Union, must get serious about positioning itself for a protracted and multi-pronged conflict with Vladimir Putin's Russia.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2022

The Asian nations bringing Washington and Beijing together

Southeast Asian nations have been playing a key role in mediating tensions between Washington and Beijing.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2022

I’ve seen Trump’s tax returns and now you can, too

Former President Trump's questionable practices are hardly news. But these tax returns may point to a bigger question: Did the White House corrupt the IRS?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2022

Zelenskyy seeks victory. Will the U.S. pay the price?

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy was greeted in Congress with standing ovations. Yet even as his country's needs grow, the prospects for U.S. assistance will inevitably become less certain.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 20, 2022

Jan. 6 committee is right to defend the rule of law

It would have been a dereliction of the U.S. Congress's duty to ignore an attempted insurrection.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 20, 2022

Southeast Asia’s reliance on not taking a stand is a dangerous bet

Southeast Asian nations trying to distance themselves from the increasingly contentious relationship between China and Western governments makes sense for a lot of reasons but is also dangerous.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Dec 20, 2022

'Kobe Cannibal': Media's fascination lingers on in the West after death

Despite his one-time fame, the death of notorious murderer and cannibal Issei Sagawa received only cursory coverage in Japan, in contrast to the West.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2022

Is there a South Korean democratic trajectory for China?

South Korea's recent history shows how a vibrant economy can lead to the emergence of a large middle class — and, with it, demands for democratization.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2022

Nuclear power has one last chance to flourish in the U.S.

Climate urgency, energy security concerns and government support make this a make-or-break moment for U.S. atomic energy.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami