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November 27, 2024

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COMMENTARY / World

Jul 11, 2003

Paris plays multilateral card

By Eric Teo Chu Cheow

SINGAPORE — Although one of the most notable moments at the June 1-3 Group of Eight summit in Evian, France, was the rapprochement between U.S. President George W. Bush and French President Jacques Chirac, Franco-American relations have not been completely restored. Senior Bush administration officials...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 11, 2003

Australia takes on role as sheriff of the South Seas

By Alan Goodall

SYDNEY -- South Pacific island states, led by Australia and New Zealand, are gearing up for an historic intervention in the internal affairs of one their distressed members, Solomon Islands. An armed "invasion" should land within weeks.

COMMENTARY

Jul 9, 2003

Human rights under siege worldwide

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- Terrorism is a serious threat to our societies and way of life. We must give top priority to combating it, but if we ignore or undermine the protection of human rights in the process we shall endanger the principles of humanity for which we are purportedly fighting.

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 8, 2003

Greenspan should quit while he's ahead

By Christopher Lingle

News that U.S. President George W. Bush intended to support the continuation of Alan Greenspan as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors was greeted with wide support. However, if Greenspan cares about his place in history, he might be wise to decline the offer.

COMMENTARY

Jul 8, 2003

Vajpayee kowtows to China

By Brahma Chellaney

NEW DELHI -- Seeking to placate longtime rival China, India has subtly shifted its stand on Tibet in a way to clearly recognize the Chinese annexation of "the roof of the world," delighting Beijing but raising questions about New Delhi's diplomatic game-plan and spurring concern among Tibetan exiles....

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 7, 2003

A productive EU presidency for Greece

By Kyriakos Rodoussakis

"The Greek presidency succeeded because it had good cooperation with everyone," said Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, the outgoing president of the European Council, while addressing the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on July 1. All in Europe realize, he added,...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 7, 2003

Consensus culture hinders missile defense

By Richard Halloran

HONOLULU -- If the Japanese are to build a defense against ballistic missiles, as increasingly seems likely, their main difficulty in making it work will be cultural -- not technical or political -- and will require a revolution in the way they make decisions.

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 7, 2003

Politics of human migrations

By Ramesh Thakur

One in five Canadian workers, one in four Australians or -- at the other extreme -- one in 500 Japanese workers is foreign-born today. The 1 million Indians in the United States comprise a meager 0.1 percent of India's population, but earn the equivalent of an astonishing 10 percent of India's national...

COMMENTARY

Jul 7, 2003

Little gain but lots of pain

By Takamitsu Sawa

Ever since his administration took power in April 2001, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has been asking the Japanese public to endure the pain associated with structural reform. This request is justified only when all Japanese equally share the pain.

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 6, 2003

An offer Yangon's generals can't refuse

By George Sioris

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- Two elements could become the basis of further efforts toward a Myanmar solution: an emerging uneasiness -- if not outright division -- among the generals in power over how to handle the growing following of the "the Lady" (democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi), and the long-awaited...

COMMENTARY

Jul 6, 2003

Iraqi case far from hopeless with time, creative thinking

By David Howell

LONDON -- Iraq is not Afghanistan. It is necessary to repeat this obvious point because the impression has been growing that occupied Iraq, like occupied Afghanistan, is a murderous and lawless stew of rival factions and impoverished tribes and factions, where democracy and stable government are impossible...

COMMENTARY

Jul 5, 2003

'Neocon' recipe for disaster

By Glyn Ford

BRUSSELS -- Newspapers are awash with speculation as to the likely outcome of the Korean Peninsula's nuclear crisis. Will it be the United States that blinks or North Korea? Nobody knows. What is clear is that while North Korea and the world wants and needs a solution, opinion in the U.S. is sharply...

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

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

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