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 Ramesh Thakur

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Ramesh Thakur
Ramesh Thakur is Professor in the Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University; adjunct professor, Institute for Ethics, Governance and Law, Griffith University, and editor-in-chief of Global Governance from Jan. 1, 2013. He began writing for The Japan Times in 1998 as Vice Rector of the United Nations University.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 1, 2018
Spring blossoms on the Korean Peninsula
The belief that the Kim-Trump summit will produce a definitive resolution rests on irrational exuberance.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 4, 2018
All bets off on the Korea summit outcome
The pieces of the jigsaw are falling into place on the Korean Peninsula. But the overall picture — a denuclearized North Korea, a nuclear-weapon-free zone for all of Northeast Asia and a U.S. withdrawal from East Asia — remains fuzzy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2018
Could the Kim-Trump summit succeed?
The Kim-Trump summit is an opportunity that will be difficult to seize and easy to squander.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 5, 2018
Returning to the edge of the nuclear cliff
The U.S. and Russia seem determined to restart a nuclear arms race.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2018
Nuclear arms: Look ahead to 2018 in hope, not back at 2017 in anger
The biggest positive story line of 2017 was a new nuclear ban treaty adopted July 7.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 7, 2017
Australia charts a flawed foreign policy course
Canberra has chosen to stick to the U.S. line rather than recognize the reality of China, work to improve relations with Beijing and commit to global organizations.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 21, 2017
Japan and the Indo-Pacific geopolitical calculus
History warns us against writing off Japan too hastily. It may not be a traditional great power on conventional criteria but it remains a consequential power in the Indo-Pacific.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 18, 2017
The enduring basis of strong India-Japan relations
Compelling economic and geopolitical factors are drawing Japan and India closer.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2017
Five steps that can bring peace in Myanmar
The humanitarian crisis afflicting Myanmar's Muslim Rohingya has damaged the country's political stability and shattered its image as a country moving toward democracy — but a resolution remains possible.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 20, 2017
Hurricane Trump makes landfall in Manhattan
The Trump administration's apparent determination to break the Iran nuclear deal is causing global alarm, for good reason.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 12, 2017
North Korea's nuclear progress isn't the only bad news
Washington's neocon warriors have forgotten noneof their arrogance and bad habits, and learned nothing from their string of earlier disastrous errors.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2017
Islamic dress codes and liberal democracy
Branding calls to ban the burqa as Islamophobic is an illiberal attempt to shut down legitimate public policy debate.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 17, 2017
China and the North Korean nuclear challenge
Japan and South Korea have managed to live for years with the reality of vulnerability to North Korea's nukes. There is no reason why the U.S. cannot learn to do the same.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2017
It's high noon on the roof the world
The two nuclear powers have to come to terms with the fact that no one will come out a winner if they resort to military action.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 18, 2017
Trust is falling in Western democratic institutions
One clue to understanding the loss of trust in the professional integrity of the Western media is their unrelenting efforts to demonize Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 10, 2017
Japan on the wrong side of nuclear weapons ban treaty
The Japanese government's stance on the U.N. nuclear ban treaty is a deeply flawed misreading of international sentiment and a deep betrayal of Japan's own history, legacy and people.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2017
Modi's actions fail to live up to his words
Three years into his five-year term, it is more accurate to describe Modi's record as 'maximum talk and boast, minimum action and results.'
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 27, 2017
How a regional nuclear-free-weapon zone can benefit Japan
Making Northeast Asia a nuclear-free-weapon zone would add a further firewall between regional quarrels and nuclear war in a high-risk region.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 14, 2017
Nuclear-free New Zealand turns 30
The 1987 nuclear-free act was a milestone in New Zealand's development as a nation.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 30, 2017
The terrorism threat: three denials and a hint of racism
Those who raise uncomfortable questions about how the West's foreign and domestic policies elevate the threat of terrorism do not deserve being tarred as traitors or Islamophobes.

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