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July 06, 2025
 

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Brahma Chellaney

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Brahma Chellaney
Brahma Chellaney, a longstanding contributor to The Japan Times, is a geostrategist and the author of "Asian Juggernaut" (Harper, 2010) and "Water: Asia’s New Battlefield" (Georgetown University Press, 2011), which won the 2012 Bernard Schwartz Award. He is professor of strategic studies at the Center for Policy Research, New Delhi.
This satellite image taken on June 19 shows damage at the Iranian nuclear facility at Arak in central Iran after an Israeli strike.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2025
An Iranian nuclear weapon just became more likely
The U.S. and Israel are likely to learn this the hard way when Iran abandons all doubts about pursuing nuclear breakout.
A hydroelectric dam near Shannan in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in March 2025
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 10, 2025
Catastrophe on the roof of the world
As the source of 10 major rivers that sustain nearly 20% of the world’s population, the Plateau’s degradation threatens regional water security, food systems and biodiversity.
A Chinese J-10B fighter jet is put on display at the China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, China, in October 2016. The short May conflict between India and Pakistan became a live trial for Chinese arms, exposing vulnerabilities in its fighter aircraft and air defense systems.
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2025
Lessons from India-Pakistan war: Were China's arms overrated?
The short May conflict between India and Pakistan became a live trial for Chinese arms, exposing vulnerabilities in its fighter aircraft and air defense systems.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Feb. 13. Trump’s coercive use of trade threats against India during the Pakistan military crisis has undermined trust in the U.S.-India partnership and exposed Washington as an unreliable security ally.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 21, 2025
Trump’s wake-up call for India’s foreign policy
Trump may have done India a favor. His actions have exposed an uncomfortable truth: Under his leadership, the U.S. is not a dependable partner in matters of security.
Teachers and students from Karachi University take part in an anti-India protest on April 28. Pakistan has warned that any attempt by India to stop water supplies from the Indus River could be seen as an "act of war."
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2025
New Delhi’s warning to Islamabad
Modi has thus retained strategic ambiguity, while sending a resolute message: Resource-sharing comes with conditions.
Indian activists angered over the jailing of a leading Hindu monk in Bangladesh try to break a police barricade during a protest in Kolkata on Nov. 28 demanding his release.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2024
Bangladesh’s descent into Islamist violence
An unstable Bangladesh mired in radical Islamism and political violence has long been India’s geopolitical nightmare
A China Coast Guard vessel fires a water cannon at a Philippine boat on a resupply mission to the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea on March 5.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2024
America must stand up to Asia’s bully
Without U.S. intervention, China will continue its territorial expansion, threatening global security and supply chains.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a BRICS business forum in Moscow on Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2024
The rise of BRICS and the emerging multipolar world
The diversity among BRICS members presents challenges in forming a unified agenda, especially given differing political systems and goals.
Bangladeshi military personnel stand guard at an empty police station in Dhaka on Aug. 9. The U.S. and Western nations have sacrificed democracy for geopolitics, evident in Bangladesh’s chaos and violence after the prime minister was recently forced from power.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 6, 2024
The Western world's stealthy assault on democracy
Elections alone — even if competitive — do not guarantee popular empowerment or adherence to constitutional rules, especially when the military holds decisive power.
Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman, Bangladesh's army chief, arrives at Dhaka International Airport to receive Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus on Aug. 8 to lead the country's interim government.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 29, 2024
Will Bangladesh go the way of Pakistan?
The Islamist resurgence poses a serious law-and-order challenge in Bangladesh, as it has long done in Pakistan.
Bangladesh's instability adds to the existing regional tensions in South Asia, which is already grappling with violence in Myanmar, terrorism in the Pakistan-Afghanistan area and political turmoil in the Maldives and Nepal.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 14, 2024
South Asia’s deepening political turmoil
The ouster of Bangladeshi's government is the latest example of political volatility in South Asia — a region struggling to achieve stability, let alone democratization.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meet at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence near Moscow on Monday during Modi’s first visit to Russia in five years.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2024
The China factor in Modi’s mission to Moscow
In his first visit to Moscow in years, Modi's focus was driving a wedge between Russia and China — with Putin one of the few world leaders who can counterbalance Xi.
People await the arrival of the Dalai Lama in New York on Sunday. The Tibetan spiritual leader is in the U.S. to undergo knee surgery.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 24, 2024
China must not choose the next Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama, who is in the U.S. to undergo knee surgery, should leave instructions to choose his successor, therefore delegitimizing any Beijing-anointed figure.
The policies of just-reelected Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reflect India's desire for independence in international affairs, emphasizing friendship without dependence.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 7, 2024
A resurgent India to play a bigger role on the world stage
With a busy foreign-policy agenda awaiting him, Modi is expected to hit the ground running right after he is sworn in.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, meet in Tokyo in May 2022 on the sidelines of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. The coalition is now adrift and the reason for the drop-off is simple: The U.S. is preoccupied with Europe and the Middle East.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2024
Is 'the Quad' becoming a Potemkin alliance?
Despite its initial promise, "the Quad" coalition now appears to be losing momentum, posing significant security risks.
Beijing is quietly supporting the Kremlin’s war machine. For China, the longer the West stays distracted with the Ukraine war, the better.
COMMENTARY / World
May 7, 2024
The West is hastening its own decline
Unless it changes course, the West is likely to lose its global supremacy, including its hold on the international financial architecture.
The U.S. should use diplomacy to achieve a cease-fire in Ukraine as a prolonged conflict could reshape global power dynamics and strengthen China.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2024
Biden's focus on Ukraine risks Indo-Pacific security
The U.S. should use diplomacy to achieve a cease-fire in Ukraine, as a prolonged conflict could reshape global power dynamics and strengthen China.
With little pushback from the international community, particularly the U.S., China has managed to expand its maritime borders unilaterally in the South China Sea without hardly firing a shot.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 21, 2024
The South China Sea could boil over
With the wars in Ukraine and Gaza stretching its military resources thin, a direct confrontation with China is the last thing the U.S. needs.
With the wars in Ukraine and Gaza claiming America’s attention and the world undergoing a broader geopolitical reconfiguration, China might see a window of opportunity in forcing its claim on Taiwan.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 21, 2024
A Taiwan crisis is coming
Already, Xi Jinping has been stepping up intrusions into Taiwan's air defense zone and encircling the island with warships.
Left-wing activists take part in a rally in Dhaka on Jan. 3 to demand a new election under Bangladesh's caretaker government.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 18, 2024
Weeks into 2024 and the world seems on edge
The global system that emerged after World War II is giving way to a world without order.
Japan braces for more quakes as authorities dismiss doomsday hype
Evacuees from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecuture, arrive at Kagoshima Port on Friday.
Hidden AI prompts in academic papers spark concern about research integrity
Waseda University is one of 14 institutions in eight countries found to have used hidden prompts in research papers.
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Residents of Tokara Islands begin evacuation as seismic swarm continues
Details about evacuations from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecture, is seen written on a whiteboard in the city of Kagoshima on Thursday.
U.S. military apologizes over Okinawa sexual assault case
Col. Neil Owens (right), chief of staff for the 3rd Marine Division, bows in apology at the Okinawa Prefectural Government office in Naha on Thursday.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

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One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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