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COMMENTARY

Mar 17, 2008

Tainted 'gyoza' poisoning bilateral ties

By Frank Ching

HONG KONG — The tainted "gyoza" dumpling scare in Japan has caused the delay of President Hu Jintao's visit to Tokyo and, if not properly handled, could result in the unraveling of the dramatic improvement in bilateral relations achieved since October 2006, when Shinzo Abe broke the ice by visiting...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 16, 2008

Dancing with bears in Putin's shadow

By Yu Bin

Perhaps more than any other capital in the world, Beijing has closely observed the changing of the guard in the Kremlin. There are many reasons for Beijing's concerns: Russia's revival as a major power, its petro-politics approach to foreign relations, its management of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization...

COMMENTARY

Mar 16, 2008

Is Obama another JFK, Bush, or both?

By Tom Plate

LOS ANGELES — Admirers of Barack Obama who glibly and favorably compare the Democratic candidate for the U.S. presidency to John F. Kennedy always assume that they are doing the former a favor. But there's another way to look at it — and it's less pretty.

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Mar 16, 2008

Ireland wrestles with a plethora of polemics

By Roger Pulvers

First of two parts

COMMENTARY

Mar 15, 2008

Still mired in parochialism

LONDON — "No man is an Island, entire of itself; everyman is a piece of the Continent.''

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 15, 2008

Malaysia's opposition emerges reborn

By Tion Kwa

SINGAPORE — In Malaysia's recent elections, opposition parties managed their strongest showing since the country gained its independence from Britain in 1957, cutting the ruling coalition's parliamentary majority to below two-thirds.

COMMENTARY

Mar 14, 2008

Burma sanctions don't work

By Brahma Chellaney

NEW DELHI — Burma today ranks as one of the world's most isolated and sanctioned nations — a situation unlikely to be changed by its ruling junta scheduling a May referendum on a draft constitution and facilitating U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari's third visit in six months.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 13, 2008

Good capitalism and bad capitalism

By Carl Schramm and William Baumol, Robert E. Litan

PRAGUE — Many people assumed that when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, "capitalism" had won the ideological cold war and that "communism" had lost. But, while "capitalism" — defined as an economic system built on private ownership of property — clearly has prevailed, there are many differences among...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 13, 2008

Taking the next step on Iran

By Bennett Ramberg

LOS ANGELES — The approval of fresh sanctions on Iran marks the third time that the United Nations Security Council has been galvanized to stem the Islamic Republic's feared uranium enrichment efforts. Unfortunately, the new sanctions are unlikely to be any more effective than the first two rounds....

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 12, 2008

Kosovo secession sets dangerous precedent

By Vuk Jeremic and Jonathan Holslag

BELGRADE — The international system that has brought unprecedented prosperity to the world since 1945 is based on rules that apply without exception. This system is supposed to protect the basic, legitimate national interests of every country, whether rich or poor, strong or weak. Its binding principles...

COMMENTARY

Mar 12, 2008

Still stalled in the Middle East

By Gwynne Dyer

LONDON — "Twenty-four hours a day of rolling news to fill," lamented the senior producer of an all-news radio station recently, "and only two hours of actual news to fill it." But his problem is minor compared to that of people condemned to cover the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where there is now...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 11, 2008

'Lower-intensity' discrimination persists

By Louise Arbour

NEW YORK — International Women's Day was celebrated March 8. Although progress has been made in achieving women's rights everywhere, we should not lose sight of the fact that widespread discrimination against women persists in law and practice, directly or indirectly, all over the world.

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Challenging spirit and teamwork keep ANA flying high

Challenging spirit and teamwork keep ANA flying high

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