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Leonid Bershidsky
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 16, 2019
Thomas Piketty takes aim at wealth inequality
The French economist's new book is meant to jolt the global left out of its ideological stupor.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 29, 2019
The seas are unsafe in a transactional world
As the recent spate of ship seizures show, tit-for-tat is the new normal.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2019
Why are Putin and Xi going soft on protest?
The Russian and Chinese regimes are doing something new: not escalating in the face of protest.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2019
Why is competitive running on the decline?
A marathon used to confer bragging rights if you managed to finish, but not so much now and that's hurting a $1.4 billion industry.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2019
Europe's populists don't look so healthy close up
Matteo Salvini's League aside, parties hostile to the European integration project performed about the same as in 2014.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2019
Court case challenges Facebook bans
A Polish group is suing Facebook for 'private censorship' in a potentially landmark case.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 9, 2019
Libya just one of Putin's many bets
The Kremlin doesn't have the luxury of choosing allies: It has to go with adventurers and risk-takers
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 8, 2019
Assange shouldn't be extradited to U.S.
Leave it to European courts to decide whether to treat him as a spy or an investigative journalist.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2019
What has Rammstein revealed about Germany's soul?
The hard-rock group's controversial new song explores national identity by confronting painful history.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 1, 2019
Europe must do more than ban plastic forks
A new law outlaws some disposable products, but doesn't curb the EU's huge exports of waste.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2019
Treat far-right terrorism as the serious threat it is
White supremacists should finally receive the government attention they deserve
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2019
Trump is winning and Putin is losing in global arms sales
If you take arms sales as a proxy for influence, the U.S.'s global dominance looks to be resilient.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 8, 2019
Brits and Americans no longer own English
Now spoken at a useful level by 1.7 billion people around the world, the language doesn't belong to the Anglosphere anymore.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 5, 2019
The real threat to your children isn't Momo
What's fundamentally wrong with the hoaxes is that they establish a false link between internet use and suicide where plenty of real links exist.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2019
In Germany, the Green New Deal works
Don't use one of the world's most competitive economies as an argument against it.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2019
Beware of cars with minds of their own
Self-driving vehicles powered by artificial intelligence might not have the same priorities as their human owners.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2019
Germans need their freedom to speed
Autobahn speed limits would reduce carbon emissions and save some lives. They should be rejected anyway.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 23, 2019
Putin doesn't have the clout to get a deal with Abe
Resolving a dispute from WWII would require giving up territory, but that would be deeply unpopular in Russia.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2018
Putin had a bad 2018; next year will be worse
Russia's economy has been weakened by sanctions and falling oil prices, and the president's popularity is slipping.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 20, 2018
Japan and Russia could finally end WWII
Abe and Putin seem determined to reach a deal on decades-old territorial dispute.

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