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November 29, 2024

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COMMENTARY / World

Aug 20, 2005

Natural gas pipeline may energize peace

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

MADRAS, India -- It is being called the Peace Pipe. The natural gas pipeline running from Iran to India through Pakistan may be a reality in early 2006. Indian Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Iyer made this announcement during his recent visit to Islamabad.

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 20, 2005

Revisiting capital punishment

By Cesar Chelala

NEW YORK -- Recent statements on capital punishment by John Paul Stevens, a U.S. Supreme Court justice, to the American Bar Association could reignite the debate on this important issue. His statements followed several exonerations of death-row inmates through scientific evidence. He said these exonerations...

COMMENTARY

Aug 19, 2005

Tolerance can't be coerced

By Doug Bandow

WASHINGTON -- For some, the Iraq constitution-writing process has called to mind the founding of America or other democracies. But whether the Iraqi doc ument -- for which the original Aug. 15 deadline has been extended a week -- will deliver liberty remains tragically uncertain.

COMMENTARY

Aug 18, 2005

Double standards don't help

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- Sixty years ago this month Hiroshima and Nagasaki were devastated by the first nuclear bombs. The effects of these bombs on the civilian populations of these cities are a horrific reminder of why all governments need to redouble their efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation and to achieve...

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 17, 2005

Viewing the United States from an Asian perspective

By Richard Halloran

HONOLULU -- During a gathering of Asians and Americans in Honolulu, the Asians seemed ambivalent about the role of the United States in their region. As one put it, "We want the Americans to be on tap but not on top."

COMMENTARY

Aug 15, 2005

Energy myths and illusions

By David Howell

LONDON/OSLO -- People like to discuss whether the world is running out of oil and gas, and the big oil companies round the world have now joined in with warnings about energy shortages and the need to retool our economies on a more energy-efficient basis. And to emphasize their dire warnings, they are...

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 15, 2005

Scholar troubled by Japan's direction

By Nobuko Hara

Few intellectuals in Japan today are as deeply committed to peace and democracy as Rokuro Hidaka is. The 88-year-old sociologist is a witness to Japan's aggression in China and, during the war, even went as far as proposing that Japan withdraw its troops from China, return its colonies and lay down foundations...

COMMENTARY

Aug 14, 2005

Reform mantra mesmerizes

By Gregory Clark

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's decision to call a Diet Lower House election Sept. 11 solely on the question of post office privatization is curious.

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Aug 14, 2005

Chiune Sugihara: His conscience gleams out of the darkness

By Roger Pulvers

Exactly 60 years ago, during the evening of Aug. 14, 1945, Emperor Hirohito recorded the speech of surrender to be broadcast to the Japanese nation the next day at noon.

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 14, 2005

Just a slab of cold peace after 60 years

By Jing-dong Yuan

MONTEREY, Calif. — Sunday marks the 60th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War. In Asia, it is an especially critical milestone as China, South Korea and many Southeast Asian countries recall their struggle against the Japanese invasions, valuing peace all the more today. Time is supposed to heal...

COMMENTARY

Aug 12, 2005

Dreams drive the nightmare

By Doug Bandow

WASHINGTON -- Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel is again pushing legislation to reintroduce a draft in America. He first did so in 2003 to slow the Bush administration's rush to war. Now he says conscription is necessary to provide the bodies necessary for Iraq's occupation.

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 11, 2005

Put everything on the table

By Michael O'Hanlon and Michael Horowitz

WASHINGTON -- North Korea's return to six-party negotiations in Beijing has been accompanied by greater civility and seriousness than many expected. Further, the frequent and direct bilateral contacts that have taken place between the U.S. and North Korean delegations -- a softening of the Bush administration's...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.

Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat

By Greg Dvorak

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