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COMMENTARY

Jul 22, 2009

Protectionist trend on the rise

By David Howell

In the English language the word "Protection" sounds warm and friendly. Everyone needs protection against the storms of life and it is nice to give protection and be protected. But lift this innocent word into the international sphere and it becomes a sinister and ominous concept, a harbinger of narrow...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 22, 2009

Finance firms letting the good times roll again?

By Lucian Bebchuk

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Goldman Sachs announced this month plans to provide bonuses at record levels, and there are widespread expectations that bonuses and pay in many other firms will rise substantially this year. Should the good times start rolling again so soon?

COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE

Jul 20, 2009

Two brothers competing on Japan's political ladder

One of the major topics of speculation among political observers nowadays is what course of action former internal affairs minister Kunio Hatoyama will take following his revolt against Prime Minister Taro Aso. He will have to make up his mind soon now that the date of the next general election has just...

COMMENTARY

Jul 19, 2009

Like it or not, China is not about to go away

By Tom Plate

KUALA LUMPUR — There was never the slightest doubt in the mind of a single reputable expert anywhere in the world that China was a caldron of ethnic unrest ready to boil over. Nor was there the slightest possibility that the masters of the People's Republic of China would be able to escape, within...

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Jul 19, 2009

To be human in today's Japan, is it best to be 'no longer human'?

By Roger Pulvers

On June 22, playwright and novelist Hisashi Inoue appeared on national broadcaster NHK's television program, "Close Up Gendai." The occasion was the centenary of the birth of the novelist Osamu Dazai.

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 19, 2009

Out of step over failed price deal

By Alan Goodall

SYDNEY — Australia is having to rethink its dealings with China following the bizarre jailing in Shanghai of an Australian businessman and a flurry of undercover diplomatic requests for explanations from Canberra to Beijing.

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 18, 2009

German genetics law a double-edged sword

By Peter Singer

MELBOURNE — In April, Germany's parliament placed limits on the use of genetic diagnosis. Is the new German law a model for other countries to follow as we grapple with the ethical issues posed by our growing knowledge of human genetics?

COMMENTARY

Jul 17, 2009

Scrutinizing fitness to lead

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON — How much importance should we give to the right to privacy? Should politicians and personalities in the public eye be expected to forgo this right because the public need to know the facts about them in order to judge their fitness for office?

COMMENTARY

Jul 16, 2009

World sympathy lies with Tibet, not Xinjiang

By Frank Ching

The rioting in Xinjiang last week echoed violence in Tibet last year but, interestingly, the international reaction has been very different.

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 16, 2009

More challenges await Hillary Clinton in Asia

By Simon Tay

SINGAPORE — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is again scheduled to travel to Asia this month to meet foreign ministers at the ASEAN Regional Forum, and to visit India. On her first Asian trip in February, she provided a welcome contrast to the past with her openness to others' views, her willingness...

COMMENTARY

Jul 16, 2009

Reflecting on the lessons of Robert McNamara's war

By Gregory Clark

The death of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara at age 93 has reopened the debate on his role, first as architect for the Vietnam War, and then later in apologizing for it with his 1995 book "In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam." Since a hawk with a conscience is a rare commodity,...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 15, 2009

Remembering McNamara

By Jonathan Schell

NEW YORK — I first met U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, who presided over the U.S. buildup in Vietnam, in the summer of 1967. I had just returned from a trip to South Vietnam, where, as a reporter for The New Yorker, I witnessed the destruction, by American air power, of two provinces, Quang...

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

Cainz enriches lives and communities through DIY

Cainz enriches lives and communities through DIY

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