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COMMENTARY / World

Feb 18, 2009

Stunned Australia starts searching for answers

By Alan Goodall

SYDNEY — The worst natural disaster in Australian history has killed at least 200 people, destroyed 7,000 houses and a dozen villages, and left a nation agonizing over the question — why did we let this happen?

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 18, 2009

Nationalize insolvent banks

By Nouriel Roubini

NEW YORK — A year ago, I predicted that the losses of U.S. financial institutions would reach at least $1 trillion and possibly go as high as $2 trillion. At that time, the consensus among economists and policymakers was that these estimates were exaggerated, because it was believed that subprime mortgage...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 18, 2009

Are we ready for a new form of capitalism?

By Peter Singer

MELBOURNE — Is the global financial crisis an opportunity to forge a new form of capitalism based on sound values?

COMMENTARY

Feb 17, 2009

Former saviors racking up losses

By Michael Richardson

SINGAPORE — A year ago, before the financial crisis started to bite hard, the United States and Europe were worried that Asian and Middle East nations, armed with a mighty war chest of surplus foreign exchange reserves from their exports of manufactured goods and oil, would gobble up so-called strategic...

COMMENTARY

Feb 17, 2009

Rumsfeld prosecution could set precedent

By Cesar Chelala

NEW YORK — There is now enough evidence to try former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for war crimes, Manfred Nowak, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture, recently told "Frontal 21," a German television program.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 16, 2009

Involve, don't attack, China

By Kevin Rafferty

HONG KONG — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her maiden overseas trip has a golden opportunity to show that the new administration of Barack Obama understands and is prepared to make its best efforts to put America's most important bilateral relationship on a surer footing. I'm not talking...

COMMENTARY

Feb 15, 2009

Immorality of bushfires

By Gregory Clark

Australia will recover from its recent bushfire tragedy damage. But can it recover from the shock of discovering how much of the damage was due to arson? Japan could provide some answers, though not all optimistic.

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Feb 15, 2009

Do Japanese yet realize that culture's acquired, not in the blood?

By Roger Pulvers

There's no doubt that Japanese people's attitudes toward foreigners, and the ways they relate to them, have changed markedly in the 40-odd years since I first arrived here. But is this change we can believe in?

COMMENTARY

Feb 14, 2009

When it's wrong to protect

By David Howell

LONDON — A government's first duty is to protect its citizens. So say all the authorities and experts. It sounds simple, but in practice and in real life it is a very complex and problematic matter.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 14, 2009

Israel votes for firmer hand with Palestinians

By Daoud Kuttab

PRINCETON, N.J. — War and violence always have a direct effect on elections. Wars account for dramatic shifts in voter preferences, and radical leaders and parties often poll much higher after a round of sharp violence than in normal times. Minority ethnic groups are therefore often able to sway the...

COMMENTARY

Feb 13, 2009

Blaming bankers' bonuses

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON — U.S. President Barack Obama has called for an annual salary cap of $500,000 for directors of banks receiving government funds. (It is worth noting that this sum is $100,000 more than the president's salary.)

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 12, 2009

Japan as the catalyst for improving global public health

By M. James Kondo

What place should Japan occupy in the world? This existential question has troubled Japan's leaders for the past two decades. Military leadership is restricted by the Constitution. Economic might has lost its glimmer. Cultural influence, epitomized by "cool Japan," has yet to take center stage.

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Passengers that were on a morning train attacked by members of the Aum Shinrikyo group wait for medical assistance outside Kasumigaseki Station on March 20,1995.

The day a religious cult brought terror to Tokyo

By Alex K.T. Martin

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