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January 31, 2025

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COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Jan 3, 2006

Putin 'exiles' the high court

By Constantine Pleshakov

MOSCOW -- Exiling someone is so very Russian. Although centuries passed by and regimes changed, authorities retained exile as a great tool of punishment and manipulation. Less objectionable than execution or imprisonment, it effectively uprooted and silenced the regimes' opponents -- and sometimes destroyed...

COMMENTARY

Jan 1, 2006

Beneficial potential of Singh's leadership

By Tom Plate

LOS ANGELES -- What will be the No. 1 geopolitical story in 2006? Don't be surprised if, by this time next year, India is the hot topic and Manmohan Singh, its prime minister, one of the world's most-watched leaders.

COMMENTARY

Jan 1, 2006

The year of Koizumi's exit

By Keizo Nabeshima

The year 2006 will mark a watershed for Japanese politics inasmuch as Junichiro Koizumi, who has ruled Japan for five years as one of the longest-serving prime ministers in the postwar era, insists that he will step down when his term as president of the governing Liberal Democratic Party expires.

COMMENTARY

Dec 31, 2005

Testing times for Japan, China

By Brad Glosserman

HONOLULU -- Taro Aso's recent comment in plain words about the "threat" posed by China's military modernization effort is as remarkable as the supposed threat itself. The readiness of a Japanese Cabinet official, and a foreign minister no less, to publicly acknowledge and criticize China's military buildup...

COMMENTARY

Dec 30, 2005

Decline of three EU leaders

By Andre Fontaine

PARIS -- At the end of last May, French and Dutch voters rejected by a strong majority the draft European constitution worked out by a convention chaired by former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing. Since all 25 member-states of the European Union had to approve the treaty, the chances of it...

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 29, 2005

Lack of English endangers immigrants

By Domenico Maceri

SANTA MARIA, California -- Imagine being a 12-year-old boy and interpreting for your mother. The doctor says your mother has a prolapsed uterus and you need to explain it to her in her language. Difficult? Embarrassing? Impossible?

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 28, 2005

INEPT LEADERSHIP CONTINUES

By Kevin Rafferty

HONG KONG -- A controversial plan to extend democracy in Hong Kong died Dec. 21 when the legislature failed to pass it by a big enough majority. Hopes of true democracy in the special region of China have thus been put into deep freeze, with recriminations reverberating from Hong Kong to Beijing and...

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 28, 2005

Democratization process brings Palestinian politics to a crossroad

By Ramzy Baroud

KUALA LUMPUR -- Palestinian political life seems to be unwittingly embracing a distinctive style, contradicting its own traditional political parameters. The last few weeks clearly attest to this political divergence.

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 27, 2005

Religious revival fills a void in China

By Eric Teo Chu Cheow

SINGAPORE -- As constitutional debate gathers steam in Japan over the separation of state and religion, Japanese ma want to consider China's efforts to resuscitate participation in religion.

COMMENTARY

Dec 26, 2005

End of exploitation past due

By Kiroku Hanai

Okinawans are embittered over an interim report on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, issued by a Japan-U.S. ministerial conference on security in October. There is a widespread public feeling that the plan will not reduce Okinawa's burden of hosting U.S. military installations -- the keystone...

COMMENTARY

Dec 26, 2005

Amazing grace toward torture

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- It beggars belief that U.S. President George W. Bush took so long to endorse Sen. John McCain's resolution against the use of torture by the CIA or any other U.S. organization. The resolution has been passed by an overwhelming majority in the U.S. Senate and by Congress but was, it seems, fiercely...

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK

Dec 26, 2005

A Japanese take on 'intelligent design'

By Hiroaki Sato

NEW YORK -- Why do my compatriots, the Japanese, try to copy Americans -- often on the basis of a most tenuous understanding? The wonderment occurred when I checked the Internet to see if the notion of "intelligent design" (I.D.) was known in Japan and at once found that it was, and more.

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Ayumi Matsuki, a priestess at Yoshiwara Shrine, shows off some "o-mamori" charms. She says visitors to the shrine have increased since the NHK drama “Unbound” began airing this month.

Tracing Tsutaya Juzaburo, Edo’s media maverick

By Alex K.T. Martin

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