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November 28, 2024

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COMMENTARY / World

May 16, 2004

Iraq has thrown off Bush's game plan

By John Barry Kotch

LONDON -- When the legendary New York Yankees manager Casey Stengel left the dugout for the pitcher's mound, there was only one question. Would he stick with his pitcher or signal to the bullpen for a reliever? Sometimes there was a brief discussion and Casey would walk back to the dugout. Often, however,...

COMMENTARY

May 16, 2004

U.S. drug laws threaten public health

By Doug Bandow

WASHINGTON -- The current and previous presidents of the United States used marijuana. So has presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has admitted to drug use. Conservative radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, who once beat the drums for jailing white junkies,...

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

May 16, 2004

EU stretching the envelope

By Constantine Pleshakov

MOSCOW -- Nobody truly knows where Europe ends. Geographically, it is supposed to run all the way east to the Ural Mountains, but few would argue that this definition should be taken seriously. What matters is culture and politics and the allegiances resulting from both. With the recent expansion of...

COMMENTARY / World

May 15, 2004

China's proliferation serves to rouse Japan

By Robyn Lim

China's support for North Korea has backfired. What would China prefer to see -- a Japan armed with nuclear weapons, or Japan's alliance with the United States strengthened by its participation in missile defense? In Beijing, neither option has much appeal. But in relation to Japan, China has been hoisted...

COMMENTARY

May 15, 2004

Has President Chen learned his lesson?

By Frank Ching

HONG KONG -- Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, who narrowly won a disputed election in March, is without doubt the Bush administration's least favorite democratically elected leader.

COMMENTARY / World

May 15, 2004

New jailers, same prison?

By Ramesh Thakur

The stage-managed toppling of ex-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's statue will not, after all, be the image defining the Iraq war. Like the famous photo of the young girl on fire running naked to escape the horror of napalm in the Vietnam War, the photographs emerging from Abu Ghraib prison will be the...

COMMENTARY

May 14, 2004

Can U.N. take the handoff?

By David Howell

LONDON -- Everyone is now looking to the United Nations to step into Iraq and somehow stabilize the situation as the country enters its most critical postwar stage. But is the U.N. capable of performing this role and willing to do so?

COMMENTARY / World

May 14, 2004

Controversies stoke Chinese nationalism

By Eric Teo Chu Cheow

SINGAPORE -- Controversy in Taiwan over the March 20 presidential poll as well as political stirrings in Hong Kong over China's "final" say in deciding reforms have probably contributed to rising nationalism in China. These three trends could affect the future development of China and the stability of...

COMMENTARY

May 13, 2004

Chinese nuclear deal buoys Islamabad

By Farhan Bokhari

ISLAMABAD -- China's agreement to supply a second 300-megawatt nuclear power reactor to Pakistan encourages Islamabad's ruling establishment, which is eager to develop the country's nuclear energy potential in a significant way. The deal for the new reactor, to be located at Chashma in central Punjab...

COMMENTARY / World

May 12, 2004

What's next as ASEAN+3 integrates?

By Yoshihiro Iwasaki

MANILA -- As we watch with interest the expansion of the European Union, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus Three (China, South Korea and Japan) continues to make its own progress toward regional economic integration. Needless to say, there is a long way to go. But the question...

COMMENTARY

May 10, 2004

Do all parties agree on CVID?

By Ralph Cossa

HONOLULU -- North Korea has agreed to participate in a six-party working group meeting Wednesday in Beijing to help lay the groundwork for the third session of the more senior-level Six-Party Talks (North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia, and the United States) expected before the end of June. The...

COMMENTARY / World

May 10, 2004

Taiwan opposition must swallow loss to live

By Alexander K. Young

NEW YORK -- On March 20 the governing Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) ticket of Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette Lu won re-election over the pan-blue ticket of Kuomintang (KMT) chairman Lien Chan and the People First Party (PFP) chairman James Soong by a narrow margin of...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.

Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat

By Greg Dvorak

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SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

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