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December 22, 2024
 

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Martin Ivens
Then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in August 2021. From Syria to Ukraine, Merkel and former U.S. President Barack Obama’s missteps still haunt the West.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 15, 2024
Putin’s loss in Syria exposes Western failures
The West's indecision and failed liberal internationalist policies allowed Putin to bolster Assad’s regime and secure strategic advantages in Syria.
According to a recent survey, former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak leads in public sentiment, with a majority of voters preferring his previously defeated Conservative government. In another poll, half of voters disapprove of Labour leader Keir Starmer's performance after just three months in office.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2024
Tories remain the ‘party party.’ Time for a bouncer.
More of the same could doom Conservatives to a long stay in the wilderness or even organizational collapse. They better get this leadership contest right.
Polls suggest Labour leader Keir Starmer will emerge victorious from Thursday’s U.K. general election despite often being perceived as stiff and acting holier-than-thou.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 3, 2024
Keir Starmer's character remains as elusive as his policies
Despite his rags-to-ruling-class backstory, Labour leader Keir Starmer isn't that popular or well understood. But he'll win Thursday's election in the U.K. anyway.
NATO, which celebrates its 75th birthday this year, has been successful at keeping the peace — but American underpinning can’t be guaranteed in perpetuity, especially with the possible reelection of Donald Trump. 
COMMENTARY
Jan 25, 2024
Europe should arm against the barbarians at its gates
Donald Trump told Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, that "NATO is dead." It would be prudent to take him at his word.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appointed David Cameron as foreign secretary, a shock return to government for a man who previously led the country and whose legacy is defined for calling the Brexit referendum.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 15, 2023
Sunak’s gamble on former U.K. leader Cameron is an act of desperation
The return of the former prime minister creates an unprecedented imbalance at the summit of U.K. power.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2023
U.K. election results pose mixed questions for Sunak and Starmer
The prime minister narrowly avoided an unprecedented defeat last week. His opponent in the battle for No. 10 was served a policy warning.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 18, 2023
Boris Johnson, the once and perhaps future Tory king
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson isn’t going quietly, and may not be going at all.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 12, 2023
Boris Johnson wants to knight his dad? That's Britain.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson may be causing the latest dismay, but much of Britain’s political class no longer knows how to behave.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 28, 2022
Britain's Rishi Sunak is trapped in a Tory civil war
The Conservative Party has broken into antagonistic camps. Can the conflict-averse prime minister quell the rebellions rising within his own party?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 22, 2022
The prince of Wales and his discontents
Queen Elizabeth II has kept the monarchy popular — and the country united around it — by keeping her opinions to herself. Charles should master the discipline
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2022
Britain's queen has had far more triumphs than failures
In some senses, life in the British royal household is less about grandeur than survival. And that is also true of the institution itself.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2022
How will the elite at Davos deal with the war in Ukraine?
The global elites such as those meeting in Davos have yet to confront the harsh realities of power politics and nationalism.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 27, 2022
Is time up for the British monarchy? Not so fast
The appeal of the royal family remains potent. Its adaptability to changing times is a hereditary trait.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 6, 2022
The court of Britain's prime minister is collapsing
Even if Boris Johnson survives the current round of resignations and scandals, he faces a perilous, friendless few months ahead.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2022
The fate of U.K.'s Boris Johnson now hinges on three factors
The U.K. prime minister is accused of whooping it up in a garden party at his No. 10 Downing St. office while the rest of the country was locked down.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2021
Britain begins to think the unthinkable: Life after the queen
'Long live the Queen” was the proclamation made following her accession to the throne. But ever since her husband's death her subjects are beginning to grasp that her life has a terminus.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2021
Where is the economic case for Scottish independence?
The threat of an independent Scotland hasn't gone away, but the U.K. government still has many cards to play to preserve the most durable union in democratic history.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2021
Boris Johnson's new wallpaper upgrade is a gamble on Britain's class divisions
The gulf between the top 5% and the rest has never looked so wide, nor been so apparent in everything from vacation choices to home decorations.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 18, 2021
Belfast petrol bombs are a Brussels problem, too
The clashes followed a decision by authorities not to prosecute 24 Sinn Fein politicians who last year attended a funeral for an IRA man, in defiance of COVID-19 restrictions.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2020
Boris Johnson leaves the dirty work to everyone else
Britain's prime minister has centralized power, but he doesn't seem to want to use it.
Freed anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson arrives in France
U.S.-Canadian anti-whaling environmental activist Paul Watson, who was released from prison in Greenland's capital Nuuk after five months in detention, arrives with Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd France, at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy-en-France, near Paris, on Friday.
Nippon Steel alleges undue White House influence on doomed deal review
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Dec. 10.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.

Podcast

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

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition
By Alex K.T. Martin

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