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November 22, 2024
 

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Leonid Bershidsky
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2015
The first Olympic hurdle should be voter support
Making plebiscites obligatory for all bidding cities could be the first step toward restoring the tattered reputation of the Olympics.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2015
Germany leads the way with energy transition
As Germany is demonstrating with its Energiewende program, transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy is a matter of resolve.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 27, 2015
Sex and drugs on the road to jihad in Paris
Jobs and education programs for young people in poor neighborhoods would help put Islamic State out of business in Europe.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 25, 2015
Russia is waging war on far too many fronts
Putin's Russia is not exactly weak, it's just alone and unloved after alienating even potential friends such as Turkey and Ukraine.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2015
Putin wants victory against IS, not detente
Putin wants to win the war against Islamic State and be acknowledged as the leader who brought about victory.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2015
No city is safe while the war continues in Syria
France and other U.S.-led coalition countries must all now assume they are potential targets for attacks like the ones in Paris. They need to decide whether they should subscribe to Putin's method of stamping out terror.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2015
Russia's travel ban on Egypt taking a heavy toll
Vladimir Putin's decision to stop flights to Egypt is having a major impact not just on the Russian travel industry but also on a public that has few other inexpensive alternatives for overseas travel.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 9, 2015
Putin's Fortress Russia takes an economic toll
Hit by Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, Vladimir Putin has adopted an isolationist policy that is crippling the Russian economy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 15, 2015
Syrian war gives Russia a chance to test weapons
The Kremlin appears to only be setting short-term tactical goals in Syria; one of which is to battle-test and show off new military hardware.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2015
Kiev learning hard lesson about Western support
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has underestimated the determination of France and Germany to get the Ukrainian matter out of the way in the most efficient manner possible.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 5, 2015
Putin in Syria is like Putin in Ukraine
What Syrian President Bashar Assad may not realize is that once Russian President Vladimir Putin comes in, it's hard to get him out.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2015
A failed tech revolution continues to haunt Kiev
Ukraine has the human resources to create a world-class technology hub, but the government is ignoring the industry and doing little to stop a brain drain.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 27, 2015
Something is rotten in the state of Germany
Malfeasance like that at Volkswagen, Deutsche Bank and Siemens, and the lack of executive responsibility for it, may be built into the German corporate governance system.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 21, 2015
Nature of sovereignty a key issue in Russia-U.S. divide
While Russia adheres to the traditional notion that state sovereignty is inviolable, the U.S. now believes it's trumped by humanitarian considerations.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 20, 2015
Did Charlie Hebdo mock the dead refugee boy?
If the people who now wax indignant about the Aylan Kurdi cartoons supported Charlie Hebdo last winter and joined demonstrations carrying 'Je suis Charlie' signs, they clearly did it for the wrong reasons.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 10, 2015
Putin could be planning a big gamble in Syria
Is Vladimir Putin taking the risky step of dramatically increasing Russia's military role in Syria's civil war?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 1, 2015
Norwegian television taps into fear of Russia
Norway's new TV series called 'Occupied' taps into Norwegians' wariness of Russia and their uneasiness about being the EU's gas station.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 12, 2015
How America lost Russia
The U.S. provoked Russian President Vladimir Putin by appeasing him and then abruptly reversing course. The damage won't be easily undone.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 10, 2015
Trump's risky bet against political correctness
For a U.S. candidate, political correctness — making sure no chance remark can be construed as racist, sexist, ageist, offensive to a religion, elitist or otherwise insensitive — can be a ball and chain.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 9, 2015
The world hates Russia. Russia hates it back
A new report by Pew Research Center show how effectively President Vladimir Putin has managed to isolate Russia and breed a siege mentality in it against the West.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.

Podcast

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

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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