More Opinion Articles - The Japan Times

November 29, 2024

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

COMMENTARY

May 21, 2003

Narrowing the U.S.-South Korean gap

By Ralph Cossa

WASHINGTON -- The summit meeting between U.S. President George W. Bush and South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun was, by almost all accounts, a success. The main reason, according to the skeptics, was that expectations were very low. No major breakthroughs were achieved, they argue; "success" merely meant...

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

May 20, 2003

Iraqi revival will cost Russia

By Constantine Pleshakov

MOSCOW -- It is a commonplace to say the war in Iraq was not only about former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein but also about oil. No matter how dangerous Hussein's regime was and how badly the White House needed an impressive victory for the 2004 elections, oil -- as today's key commodity -- was very much...

EDITORIALS

May 20, 2003

On the brink of another recession

Japan's economy appears on the brink of yet another recession -- the fourth in a decade. The nation's gross domestic product -- the total value of goods and services produced at home -- remained flat in real terms, not including price effects, in the first three months of the year, according to data...

EDITORIALS

May 19, 2003

Iran's challenge to nonproliferation

The list of international nuclear problems continues to grow. The U.S. war victory over Iraq has presumably ended concerns about that country's efforts to develop nuclear weapons. North Korea's nuclear program is the current focus of international attention. Now the U.S. is ringing the alarm over Iran's...

COMMENTARY / World

May 19, 2003

SARS sets off power struggle in Beijing

By David Wall

CAMBRIDGE, England -- The SARS epidemic centered in China has become a global issue. Most people in the world, even if they are not infected or in serious danger of infection, are indirectly affected by the restrictions on freedom of movement and economic downturns directly attributed to reactions the...

COMMENTARY / World

May 19, 2003

Humor's role in war survives

By Ramesh Thakur

After a lifetime as a student and teacher of international relations, I have been impressed by just how much of the essence of world affairs -- not to mention the attention span of students and audiences -- can be captured through pithy jokes. The recent Iraq war is no exception to this rule. (Although...

COMMENTARY

May 19, 2003

Strengthen Japan's deterrent

By Keizo Nabeshima

The ruling coalition and the top opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, have agreed to amend a package of government-sponsored war contingency bills, marking a turning point in Japan's security policy.

COMMENTARY

May 19, 2003

Manila failing to crush Muslim rebels

By Ronald Meinardus

MANILA -- Political violence and terrorism have once more become a depressing routine in the southern Philippines. More than 80 people, many of them civilians, have been killed in bombings and indiscriminate fighting since early March.

COMMENTARY / World

May 19, 2003

North Korea tops Koizumi's U.S. agenda

By Richard Halloran

HONOLULU -- When Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi meets with U.S. President George W. Bush at the president's ranch in Texas this week, he will be speaking for a Japan that feels more threatened, this time by North Korea, than at any time since World War II.

COMMENTARY

May 18, 2003

Arms sales hinder S. Asian peace effort

By Farhan Bokhari

ISLAMABAD -- U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Armitage, concluding his visit to India and Pakistan, extended Washington's support for a new peace process between the two nuclear-armed neighbors without a direct role for the United States in settling the drawn out dispute over the divided Himalayan...

COMMENTARY / World

May 18, 2003

Sea piracy raises watch for terrorist links

By Richard Halloran

HONOLULU -- An almost unnoticed battle against piracy in the South China Sea has become more intense, with the pirates winning and governments in Southeast Asia fearing they will be joined by terrorists in an attempt to disrupt trade throughout Asia.

COMMENTARY

May 18, 2003

A regime to quell nuclear fear

By Brad Glosserman

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Any real solution to the North Korean nuclear crisis will ultimately be a "grand bargain" with military, economic, political and diplomatic components. Fashioning that deal will require aggressive and creative thinking. The lack of trust in Pyongyang and Pyongyang's lack of trust...

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports