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COMMENTARY / World

Jul 29, 2009

All stimulus roads lead to China

By Barry Eichengreen, Robert Dujarric and Rachel Kranton

BEIJING — Now that the "green shoots" of recovery have withered, the debate over fiscal stimulus is back with a vengeance. In the United States, those who argue for another stimulus package observe that it was always wishful thinking to believe that a $787 billion package could offset a $3 trillion...

COMMENTARY

Jul 28, 2009

Challenge of a straight question

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON — Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, recently was asked twice by the Defense Committee of the House of Commons whether the army chief of staff had requested that reinforcements of 2,000 men be sent to Afghanistan, where British forces have recently suffered a string of casualties. Brown...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 28, 2009

EU set to build ties with eastern neighbors

By Carl Bildt

STOCKHOLM — Pushing the "reset" button on diplomatic relations is a popular endeavor nowadays. President Barack Obama recently journeyed to Moscow in order to "reset" strained U.S.-Russian ties. The European Union, though not in need of a "reset" because of strained ties with its eastern neighbors,...

COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE

Jul 27, 2009

Mettle of 'thoroughbreds'

What does Prime Minister Taro Aso have in common with his immediate predecessors — Junichiro Koizumi, Shinzo Abe and Yasuo Fukuda? Each is either a son or a grandson of a well-known politician of the past.

COMMENTARY

Jul 27, 2009

Threats against Iran feed off modern myths

By Cesar Chelala

NEW YORK — Several myths regarding Iran stand in the way of the United States and other nations reaching a peaceful relationship with that country. Much of the concern that Iran may attack Israel, if Iran successfully develops nuclear weapons, rests on the statement by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad...

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK

Jul 26, 2009

Blunderbuss followup to the invasion of Iraq

By Hiroaki Sato

NEW YORK — The New York Times editorial on June 30, "The First Deadline," showed America's egocentrism at its worst. Dealing entirely with a single subject — the withdrawal of American combat troops from Iraqi cities, with 130,000 soldiers still remaining in the country — the lengthy commentary...

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Jul 26, 2009

Myth-buster points the way to Japan's role as 'credit-crunch' pioneer

By Roger Pulvers

T here are five myths circulating the globe regarding the financial crisis that has it in its grip. This is the view of Pavel Minakir, director of the Institute of Applied Economic Research in Khabarovsk, Russia. His fascinating and sobering assessment of these myths appeared in a recent issue of the...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 26, 2009

40 years of dialogue with Poland's Socrates

By Andrzej Rapaczynski

NEW YORK — One of the most important men you probably never heard of died July 17. Immersed in a bustle of events that no one will remember tomorrow, we tend to pay less attention to people who take on the issues of eternity — philosophers, moralists, sages who try to turn our minds to higher things....

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 26, 2009

Pope's dream of heaven on Earth

By Kevin Rafferty

HONG KONG — Of all the criticisms and critiques of the state of the world since the financial crisis that triggered global recession, the most devastating and yet the most profound and constructive came this month from such an unusual and unlikely source that many media ignored them. Yet the comments...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 25, 2009

Obama jeopardizing nuclear deal with India

By Harsh V. Pant

LONDON — Even as all eyes were focused on the issues of global economic revival, world trade and climate change, the Group of Eight sprung a major surprise on India during its summit at L'Aquila. The G8 statement on nonproliferation committed the advanced industrial world to implement on a national...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 24, 2009

Will Asia's economic recovery lead the way?

By Jong-wha Lee

MANILA — The latest economic indicators from the world's advanced economies remain mixed. There are some signs of stabilization — industrial output and consumer spending are, for example, falling much more slowly than they were, but stabilization does not mean imminent recovery. A decline is still...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 22, 2009

Are the finance sector's halcyon days over?

By Howard Davies

LONDON — For at least a quarter-century, the financial sector has grown far more rapidly than the economy as a whole, both in developed and in most developing countries. The ratio of total financial assets (stocks, bonds, and bank deposits) to gross domestic product (GDP) in the United Kingdom was...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Wealthier women in the prewar era had been the targets of various media-related health campaigns that mistakenly encouraged them to avoid everything from riding bicycles to reading novels when their monthly cycles came around.

Menstruation in Japan: Breaking the silence, slowly

By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Challenging spirit and teamwork keep ANA flying high

Challenging spirit and teamwork keep ANA flying high

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