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COMMENTARY

Jun 24, 2009

Tough to intercept missiles

By Michael Richardson

Due to the severe economic slump, the United States recently announced that it would make substantial cuts to its costly and controversial missile defense program. Several new parts of the planned shield are to be canceled.

COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE

Jun 22, 2009

Factional beat of the LDP

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party could very well be in for a bitter power struggle among three of its principal intraparty factions following the general election expected by September. The outcome of that struggle could also be a harbinger of a broader political reorganization involving not only...

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Jun 21, 2009

Tokyo spurned in the 'ultra miracle' of new film's linguistic embrace

By Roger Pulvers

On June 8, the evening edition of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported on a fascinating phenomenon — one that may be a harbinger of a broad cultural and social movement in Japan.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 21, 2009

Pain of Kashmir blocks realistic relations

By Kevin Rafferty

HONG KONG — One of the most important, painful, politically controversial but essential tasks for the new Indian government of Manmohan Singh is to get relations with its neighbor and rival Pakistan onto a smoother footing for the sake of both countries, as well as for the peace and stability of the...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 21, 2009

Sustainable welfare plus profits

By Peter Singer

MELBOURNE — Something new is happening at Harvard Business School. As graduation nears for the first class to complete their master of business administration since the onset of the global financial crisis, students are circulating an oath that commits them to an "ethical" pursuit of their work; "to...

COMMENTARY

Jun 19, 2009

Poachers driving Indian tigers into oblivion

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

CHENNAI, India — Recently it was found that the Panna National Park in central India, one of the most prestigious tiger reserves, was bereft of the big cat. Only four years ago the park had 35 tigers. By mid-2008, only one male tiger was seen there, and two female cats introduced into Panna from neighboring...

COMMENTARY

Jun 18, 2009

Kim's defiance raising the stakes

By Michael Richardson

North Korea has confirmed the worst suspicions of those who fear the destabilizing consequences of nuclear proliferation by announcing that it will become a full-fledged nuclear state, able to build both uranium and plutonium bombs and fit them to the nose cones of its missiles.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 18, 2009

Ghost of appeasement still haunting EU ties

By Vaclav Havel

PRAGUE — One of the fundamental pillars of Europe's political architecture is a strong and enduring belief in the universal validity of equal, universal, and inalienable human rights.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 17, 2009

Balancing U.S.-China economic ties

By Kenneth Rogoff

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — As the global economy stabilizes, there is a growing danger that the United States and China will slip back into their precrisis economic patterns, placing themselves and the rest of the world at risk. Despite Chinese official rhetoric about the need for a new global currency to...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 17, 2009

Incoming ambassador Roos is right for the job

By Weston S. Konishi and Robert Dujarric

After months of speculation, U.S. President Barack Obama recently nominated John V. Roos to represent the United States in Tokyo. Roos, like several American ambassadors, earned his position as a top Democratic fundraiser during the U.S. presidential campaign. As the head of a major Silicon Valley law...

COMMENTARY

Jun 17, 2009

Rewriting history in Russia

By Gwynne Dyer

In the Soviet Union, the future was always certain; only the past could change without notice. The signal that it had changed was often the publication of a pseudo-scholarly article that denounced the "falsifications" of the existing version of history.

COMMENTARY

Jun 16, 2009

Jailing U.S. journalists could prove costly

By Tom Plate

LOS ANGELES — Call me a dupe of the commies if that makes you happy — I really don't care at this point. Maybe all these years I have been wrong to argue that we can negotiate with North Korea; maybe my critics are right and the regime does need to be either ignored and further isolated or, in the...

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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