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November 28, 2024

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COMMENTARY

Feb 17, 2004

U.S.-British naivete unmasked

By Gregory Clark

With the United States bringing out new rules of international relations regularly, it is important to take stock from time to time. One of them, spawned by the Iraq conflict, is the uncertainty doctrine. This says that whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) or not does not matter. What is...

COMMENTARY

Feb 15, 2004

Japan jumping headfirst into the future

By Tom Plate

The Japanese "get no respect, no respect at all." That trademark line from American comic Rodney Dangerfield certainly applies to the government of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Last August when I interviewed Koizumi in his official Tokyo residence, I asked him point-blank if Japanese troops really...

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Feb 15, 2004

Don't tease the Russian bear

By Constantine Pleshakov

MOSCOW -- In this election year for both Russia and the United States, a major conflict is under way in Russo-American relations: the debate over the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Created to contain the Soviet Union during the Cold War, NATO had to redesign itself following the...

COMMENTARY

Feb 15, 2004

Afghanistan risks becoming narco-state

By Farhan Bokhari

ISLAMABAD -- The United Nations' office on drugs and crime has warned recently that Afghanistan risks becoming a narco-state, dependent largely on the flow of illegal drugs. The production and shipment of narcotics in an otherwise shattered and bankrupt economy not only add to the aggravation within...

COMMENTARY

Feb 14, 2004

The fallibility of intelligence

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- The Jan. 28 report of Lord Justice Brian Hutton's inquiry into the death last July of British government defense scientist David Kelly was highly critical of the behavior of the British Broadcasting Corp. and a BBC reporter who had accused the government of "sexing up" intelligence for the...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 13, 2004

Bird flu lessons highlight change in Asia

By Eric Teo Chu Cheow

SINGAPORE -- Avian flu has spread across 10 countries in Asia -- from China and Pakistan to Indonesia. A meeting in Bangkok at the end of January highlighted the flu's "regional dimension" as well as the necessity for a regional approach to eradicating it.

COMMENTARY

Feb 12, 2004

China creeps toward a culture of openness

By Frank Ching

HONG KONG -- Last month, in a small but significant move toward greater openness and transparency, China for the first time made available to the public a portion of materials from its diplomatic archives for the period between the founding of the People's Republic in 1949 and 1955.

COMMENTARY

Feb 11, 2004

SDF dispatch opens new era for Japan

By Keizo Nabeshima

The dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq marks a watershed in Japan's post-World War II security and defense policy. The SDF has joined U.N. peacekeeping operations several times since 1992. The latest deployment, though designed primarily to support humanitarian and reconstruction efforts in...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 10, 2004

McNamara's lesson for today's politicians

By Cesar Chelala

NEW YORK -- A recent film, "The Fog of War," directed by Errol Morris -- about former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara's recollections of his political life -- should be required viewing for politicians worldwide. His testimony is valuable in several aspects. As a historical document, it provides...

COMMENTARY

Feb 10, 2004

'Next big thing' key to growth

By Takamitsu Sawa

During Japan's bubble-economy years of fiscal 1987-1990, consumer spending grew at an annualized 5.5 percent in real terms. But during the Heisei recession of fiscal 1991-2001, consumer-spending growth slowed to an annualized 1.0 percent. Most experts agree that the slowdown in consumer spending, which...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 8, 2004

Resist the attempts to recognize Taiwan

By Glyn Ford

TAIPEI -- The Cold War may be over in Europe, but it is very much still with us in Asia. The North-South division on the Korean Peninsula is still possibly the world's most dangerous political stand-off. Not far behind is the tension between China and Taiwan. A civil war between the two was frozen just...

COMMENTARY

Feb 8, 2004

Politicians born of the media

By Ronald Meinardus

MANILA -- The media has become a decisive factor in electoral politics in democracies throughout the world. I would even argue that it is impossible to find a democratic country today in which a candidate could win a majority without using the media. Whenever political parties or candidates campaign,...

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

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