Tag - jr-east

 
 

JR EAST

COMMENTARY / World
Jan 19, 2014
Let Iraq, Afghan regimes look after themselves
What more than a decade ago was believed by Americans to be the omnipotence of the U.S. in the Middle East and Central Asia is today being replaced by a fear that the U.S. is responsible for why everything seems to be going wrong.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 18, 2014
The need for a peace narrative in the Middle East
A physician-writer wonders why a common narrative of shared commercial and cultural interests cannot be developed in the Mideast like the one that Jewish and Arab business owners had in his hometown in northern Argentina a half-century ago.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 4, 2014
Back and forward: Asia in 2013; predictions for 2014
Crystal-ball gazing is a notoriously inexact science, so before getting to that, let's lessen the potential exposure to ridicule by starting with a roundup of the last 12 months' key trends and events in Asia.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2013
A terrible year for Syria and Egypt
Even with the most optimistic assessments, the Syrian conflict is unlikely to be settled in 2014. As for Egypt, nearly 20,000 people have been sentenced or are now facing trials for belonging to or supporting the 'wrong' political camp.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2013
'Frenemies' in the Mideast
The recent interim nuclear agreement between Iran and the so-called P5-plus-1 countries, led by the U.S., has provoked unprecedented criticism of U.S. policy from two of its strongest Mideast allies: Israel and Saudi Arabia.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 15, 2013
Time for Bangladesh to heal political wounds of the past
Bangladesh's rapid economic growth is at risk because of demonstrations and widespread anger over death penalties imposed on some Muslim leaders for their part in the 1971 war for independence.
COMMENTARY / World / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 14, 2013
Indonesia's challenges — from poverty to Papua
On a recent trip to Jakarta, I experienced firsthand what an infrastructure bottleneck feels like. My driver told me the city is only third in global traffic-jam rankings, trailing Mexico City and New Delhi, but what was a 40-minute ride when I lived there in the mid-1980s took a dispiriting 2½ hours....
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 12, 2013
HIV/AIDS cases rising in Mideast, North Africa
Although the Mideast and North Africa has just 2 percent of the world's HIV caseload, it is one of two regions with the fastest growing HIV/AIDS infection rate.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Dec 7, 2013
Impending Japan-China war has the makings of a Clancy classic
On Nov. 23, China announced the creation of a newly expanded air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea, overlapping a large expanse of territory also claimed by Japan. The move has produced a visceral reaction in the Japanese vernacular media, particularly the weekly tabloids. Five...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 7, 2013
Iran-baiting lawmakers busy ratcheting up tension
Iran-baiting lawmakers in the United State are busy trying to ratchet up the tension by pushing for more economic sanctions against Tehran despite an interim agreement on restriction Iran's nuclear program.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 6, 2013
ADIZs: separating fact from fiction
The fact that China's new air defense identification zone overlaps that of Japan, Taiwan and South Korea is not 'illegal' and is perhaps part of a strategy to level the legal playing field vis-a-vis Japan's claims in the disputed area.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Dec 4, 2013
Iran deal offers hope, peril for Middle East
A surge of diplomacy and an outburst of violence in the days since world powers reached a deal with Iran illustrate both the promise and the peril of what could be the start of a more peaceful era in the Middle East — or the beginning of a new round of bloodletting.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 23, 2013
Rookie trio make for a leadership deficit in East Asia
With three new leaders taking power over the past year — in Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing (and a fourth in Pyongyang two years ago) — 2013 was never likely to be a banner year for regional diplomacy. But I didn't expect it to get quite this bad.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 12, 2013
John Kerry's Mideast dream world
Imagine a world in which the Mideast is not descending into chaos but is on the brink of a monumental series of breakthroughs. This is the magical world of the U.S. secretary of state.

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Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.