author

 
Menu
Search
 
February 22, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
Brad Glosserman

Meta

Brad Glosserman
Japanese companies face mounting pressure as U.S.-China tensions grow, forcing them to navigate security concerns, economic dependencies and shifting trade policies.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 12, 2025
For Japanese firms, the China dilemma is set to intensify
“America First” and “Make America Great Again” are simple slogans that can be fitted to any outcome. All that ultimately matters is the final say of the president.
DeepSeek’s AI breakthrough has shaken assumptions about China’s innovation, highlighted weaknesses in U.S. tech restrictions, and reinforced China’s push for self-sufficiency despite export controls.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2025
DeepSeek forces a rethink of China’s ability to innovate
The Trump administration hasn’t outlined a policy toward technology flows yet, but it ordered a review of export controls on day one.
Economic coercion has become a prominent tool in global geopolitics, with both China and the U.S. relying on it to pursue their policy goals, and more so with Donald Trump now in office.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2025
When big countries wave their big economic sticks
There is no agreed definition of economic coercion under international law; like pornography, we know it when we see it.
As Donald Trump begins his second term, the U.S. holds a strong position in the Indo-Pacific. However, missteps, economic policies and shifting alliances could undermine the Biden administration's progress in strengthening partnerships and countering China.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 21, 2025
Will Trump sustain or squander Biden's Indo-Pacific gains?
The legacy of the Joe Biden administration could prove fleeting, however, the result of missteps by Washington or developments in allied states.
The "madman theory" in foreign policy, which some apply to Donald Trump, relies on perceived irrationality to intimidate adversaries and generally fails to achieve its goals, leading to dangerous miscalculations.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 15, 2025
There is no place for ‘madmen’ in international diplomacy
Historians root the madman theory in Machiavelli, who wrote that “at times it is a very wise thing to simulate madness.”
A Tesla showroom in Beijing in January 2024. In today's world, the car isn’t the biggest moneymaker for automakers; instead, it is the services attached to the connected vehicle.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2025
China’s EVs may change the world in unimaginable ways
China has about 100 EV brands and they claim about 80% of the new electric vehicle market.
A voter casts a ballot at a polling station in Tokyo on Oct. 27. Last year, incumbents in every major country that held a national election lost that vote, the first time that has happened in almost 120 years.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2024
The world is ever more angry. That is not good.
Hostility toward existing leadership stems from the belief that lives aren't improving and future generations will have fewer opportunities than previous ones.
U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House in October 2017. Canada, like other nations in the president-elect's crosshairs, is scrambling to blunt the impact of his threat to implement steep tariffs once he re-takes office.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2024
The creep of national security threatens the WTO
In Trump's mind, tariffs are the cure-all for virtually everything that ails the United States.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Papua New Guinea leader James Marape address a news conference in Sydney on Dec. 12.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 17, 2024
Australia shows how smart diplomacy is done
Recent deals reflect the laser focus the Australian government is devoting to its closest neighbors and a bureaucratic reorganization that translates into action.
Yutaka Mataebara (second from left) dines with his managerial colleagues at an event celebrating the 100th anniversary of The Japan Times.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 13, 2024
Here's to Yutaka Mataebara, the 'iron man' of The Japan Times
Mataebara was a pillar of the JT: During his 44 years at the paper until he retired in 2006, he worked in a variety of departments, including as the editor in chief.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Peruvian counterpart, Dina Boluarte, meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima on Nov. 14.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 10, 2024
U.S. wakes up to China’s growing presence in its ‘backyard’
China has long eyed Latin America’s food and mineral resources, using them to build business connections for over two decades.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin at a ceremony in Pyongyang in June. If North Korean troops sent to the war in Ukraine under an agreement between the two nations are used for anything other than cannon fodder, they may gain experience that could improve the communist nation's military.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 27, 2024
Autocrats challenge traditional geopolitics and strategic boundaries
Emerging "common market of autocracies" are enabling regimes like Russia and North Korea to evade Western sanctions through unconventional networks and barter systems.
The Philippines is countering Chinese aggression with a strategy of exposing coercive actions through media, embedding journalists with its military and leveraging visual evidence to gain domestic and international support.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2024
Philippines uses the media spotlight to fight back against China
Manila is promoting “assertive transparency” to shape the media landscape, putting Beijing on the defensive.
Donald Trump believes the U.S. should prioritize its own national interests like other countries rather than maintaining its traditional role as a global leader, signaling a dramatic shift in how the United States may engage with the world.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 12, 2024
Who will step up if Trump steps back?
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is indifferent to the global order and may adopt a foreign policy approach that reshapes the global balance of power.
There will be considerable consistency in U.S. policy regardless of who wins the presidential election, however, and, unfortunately, many of them will trouble allies and partners.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 5, 2024
Regardless of election results, U.S. foreign policy is sure to trouble allies
“Strategic competition between the United States and China is poised to intensify no matter who assumes the U.S. presidency in January 2025.”
While Donald Trump is typically seen as the instigator of the slide in America’s standing and credibility as a global leader, in truth, questions about U.S. commitment and resolve have persisted long before his administration. 
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 29, 2024
This election won’t — can’t — solve U.S. foreign policy woes
While Trump is typically seen as the instigator of this slide, in truth, questions about U.S. commitment and resolve predate his administration.
China's strategic government support has enabled it to lead in the production and supply chains for renewable technologies, including wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 22, 2024
What happens when China becomes the green tech superpower?
What should be of more concern is the “soft power” that Beijing will acquire by mastering the green tech sector.
With projections indicating a population drop in Japan from around 125 million to 63 million by 2100, traditional solutions like immigration and labor reforms are unlikely to be effective in time.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 15, 2024
Japan should master, not resist, its demographic destiny
Japan needs a strategic reorientation toward accepting and mastering its demographic changes rather than resisting them.
Japan's has experienced a significant decline in global economic power, with its share of global gross domestic product dropping from 18% in the 1980s to an anticipated 3% by 2050.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 8, 2024
Japan needs more than mere economic strength
Japan, a country that has long relied on its economic prowess for international stature and standing, must change its perspective.
A Russian submarine arrives at the port of Dagang, in Qingdao, Shandong province, China, in April 2019 for a joint Chinese-Russian naval exercise.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2024
The China-Russia relationship once derided, now looks to endure
Both China and Russia are concerned about U.S. alliances in the Indo-Pacific and are acting to counterbalance them.
Yen advances past ¥150 per dollar as BOJ rate-hike bets ramp up
The Japanese currency climbed as much as 1% to ¥149.95 against the dollar on Thursday, a level it hasn’t touched since Dec. 9.
Japan release of Shiori Ito's documentary in limbo
Shiori Ito, who won a civil suit over a rape case against a TV reporter, in 2018. Her former lawyers claim her documentary includes footage used without the consent of sources.
LDP and opposition lock horns over Japan budget
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in parliament on Friday
Japanese panel seeks to tighten screening of new universities
Education minister Toshiko Abe (right) receives a report on higher education from an advisory panel on Friday.
Over 80% of Japanese say death penalty system is 'unavoidable'
Former death row inmate Iwao Hakamata (left) and his sister, Hideko, attend a gathering of his supporters after his acquittal in a retrial over a 1966 murder case was finalized in October last year.
Japan release of Shiori Ito's documentary in limbo
Shiori Ito, who won a civil suit over a rape case against a TV reporter, in 2018. Her former lawyers claim her documentary includes footage used without the consent of sources.
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown ready to sprint past Paris disappointment
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (center) runs during a 100-meter heat at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 3, 2024.
What is the ceiling for sumo’s newest yokozuna?
Newly promoted grand champion Hoshoryu (center) performs a dedication ceremony at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo on Jan. 31.
‘Yasuko, Songs of Days Past’ puts overlooked star in the spotlight
“Yasuko, Songs of Days Past” centers on a real-life love triangle between poet Chuya Nakahara (Taisei Kido, left), actor Yasuko Hasegawa (Suzu Hirose, center) and literary critic Hideo Kobayashi (Masaki Okada).
Japan’s English-language education doesn’t pass the test
One-third of elementary school students in Japan do not like learning English, according to a 2021 poll, an 8% rise since 2013. The pressure of taking proficiency tests is eroding children's engagement with studying English and its benefits.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tokyo Koon stands at the forefront of tackling the so-called 2025 issue, also known as the “Magnetic Tape Alert.”
The race to save 20th-century history
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Challenging spirit and teamwork keep ANA flying high
Challenging spirit and teamwork keep ANA flying high

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER