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COMMENTARY

Mar 24, 2012

China must rein in N. Korea

By Ralph Cossa

Now what? Just when we thought things were getting better, North Korea pulled the rug out from under everyone, including itself, by announcing a planned satellite launch to commemorate Great Leader Kim Il Sung's 100th birthday celebration.

COMMENTARY

Mar 23, 2012

Bowing out with a farewell of great expectation

By Tom Plate

What was most amazing to Westerners at least -and perhaps, especially, to the Chinese people — was that his comments were broadcast live on official China TV. After all, his official observations weren't exactly pretty. Here is the back-story.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 22, 2012

NATO's Libyan war lessons

By Ken Gude and John D. Podesta

NATO's intervention in Libya one year ago helped to avert a humanitarian catastrophe and created the conditions for Libya's citizens to end Col. Moammar Gadhafi's dictatorship. The military operation highlighted important improvements in European leadership since the Bosnian debacle in the 1990's, but...

COMMENTARY

Mar 22, 2012

Pinpointing the causes of the U.S. economic crisis

By Robert Samuelson

Four years after the onset of the financial crisis — in March 2008 Bear Stearns was rescued from failure — we still lack a clear understanding of the underlying causes. Hundreds of studies and books have given us an increasingly detailed picture of what happened without conclusively answering why....

COMMENTARY

Mar 22, 2012

China's military buildup breeds distrust

By Michael Richardson

Since China announced another big rise in its military spending earlier this month, Chinese officials in Beijing and diplomats posted in Asia-Pacific countries have been trying to spread an orchestrated message to the region: Don't be alarmed.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 21, 2012

Can the world's poor nations save the rest of us?

By Olivier Ray and Jean-michel Severino

Events in 2012 so far have confirmed a new global dissymmetry. Caught between unprecedented financial insecurity and a somber economic outlook, the rich OECD countries and their middle classes fear geopolitical weakening and downward social mobility. In much of Asia, Africa and Latin America, however,...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 21, 2012

Goldman Sachs has a long history of duping its clients

By William D. Cohan

Greg Smith doesn't know the half of it.

COMMENTARY

Mar 21, 2012

Nearing the end of tyranny?

By Hugh Cortazzi

President Vladimir Putin in Russia, President Bashar Assad in Syria and President Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe are detested by many of their fellow countrymen who would like to see them overthrown and tried for human rights abuses. They depend on a close coterie of guards and aides who have to be kept happy....

COMMENTARY

Mar 20, 2012

TV tactics win Putin new term

By Tina Burrett

On March 10, thousands of Muscovites took to the streets for a fourth time in as many months to protest against fraudulent elections. Protesters held placards demanding "Russia without Putin." But this rally was smaller and quieter than previous anti-Putin protests.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 20, 2012

Mistaken presumptions about Assad's Syria

By Roger Owen

Syria's uprising against President Bashar Assad, which began peacefully in Damascus a year ago, has become increasingly brutal and splintered. As the death toll nears 9,000, calls for international intervention have increased — but what worked in places like Libya won't necessarily succeed in Syria....

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 20, 2012

Testing times for U.S.-South Korean alliance

By Lee Byong Chul

The United States is now wrestling with the nuclear fears of two close allies — Israel and South Korea. Israel's alarm at the prospect of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon is existential in nature. The same is true of South Korea, whose capital sits only 40 km from the border with the North.

COMMENTARY

Mar 19, 2012

Chief executive falls on Hong Kong's reputation

By Frank Ching

Chief Executive Donald Tsang, chastened by the disclosure that he had accepted favors from Hong Kong and mainland tycoons, was on the verge of tears when he appeared March 1 before the Legislative Council and pleaded: "No matter whether you still trust me or not, don't lose faith in Hong Kong's institutions."...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Pedestrians commute through Shibuya Station in central Tokyo, an area that is almost never devoid of people.

As the rest of Japan shrinks, Tokyo grows

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Yamagata’s Zao Onsen Ski Resort is a classic beauty

Yamagata’s Zao Onsen Ski Resort is a classic beauty

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