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November 25, 2024

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COMMENTARY

Oct 28, 2000

Luck gets Clinton out of a Balkan jam

By Doug Bandow

Seldom have events more dramatically demonstrated that it is better to be lucky than smart. The popular uprising that ousted Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic happened despite, not because, of Clinton administration policy. A U.S. foreign policy based on humility, as suggested by Republican presidential...

EDITORIALS

Oct 27, 2000

Car-safety promises unfulfilled

Japan's crowded highways, limited parking spaces and high gasoline prices would seem likely to discourage all but the most determined drivers. Yet a glance at any busy urban road makes it clear that Japan is still a nation that considers endurance, if not patience, a leading virtue. It is good to know...

COMMENTARY

Oct 27, 2000

The coalition loads the dice

By Minoru Tada

A few months ago, leaders of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party were concerned that the party could suffer a shocking setback in the Upper House election next year if Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori remained in power then. There were also widespread fears that the ruling coalition of the LDP, New Komeito...

EDITORIALS

Oct 26, 2000

Time for a reality check

The courtship of Pyongyang continues. After Britain and Germany expressed interest in opening diplomatic relations with North Korea last weekend, the United States upped the ante with the two-day visit of Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. If there is progress in the relationship, Ms. Albright held...

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 26, 2000

ASEM fails to live up to hype

By John Barry Kotch

The third Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) held in Seoul last weekend was long on ceremony and performance, but short on substance. While impeccably hosted by South Korea and held in a glittering new conference center in southern Seoul, the conference lacked "soul." For all the talk of Partnership for Shared...

EDITORIALS

Oct 25, 2000

Entangled by the truth

Central bankers are Delphic figures. They are supposed to be all-knowing, serious and solid, exuding confidence and authority. At the same time, however, they must maintain an air of unpredictability to keep markets from anticipating their moves. That is why last week's comments by Mr. Wim Duisenberg,...

COMMENTARY

Oct 25, 2000

When leaders fail to lead

By David Howell

LONDON -- Countries and peoples that make peace after years or even generations of enmity require very strong leaders. Just as it needed a Charles de Gaulle to tell the French to stop fighting the Algerians, a Konrad Adenauer to tell the Germans to love the French, a Harry Truman or a Douglas MacArthur...

COMMENTARY

Oct 25, 2000

Western policies ignore Serbia's history

By Gregory Clark

Japan can be criticized for its simplistic, one-track mind at times. But over problems like Yugoslavia, the one-tracked Western mind, hardened by ideology and moralistic bias, can do far more harm.

EDITORIALS

Oct 24, 2000

The reality gap still looms

The latest economic stimulus package, unveiled last Thursday, reinforces the impression that deficit spending in the name of economic recovery has become an annual routine. In fact, almost every year since the economic bubble burst a decade ago, the government has pumped trillions of yen into the system,...

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 24, 2000

Asia getting mixed messages from U.S.

By George Sioris

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- The issue is not new, but it has recently resurfaced: How is U.S. foreign policy coordinated and articulated, particularly when it affects Asia?

COMMENTARY

Oct 24, 2000

Executives must obey the law

By Kiroku Hanai

In a recent major shareholder suit, the Osaka District Court ordered 11 former Daiwa Bank executives to pay a total of $775 million (about 83 billion yen) in compensation for the $1.1-billion loss the bank suffered from illegal bond trading by a former employee of its New York branch. The ruling has...

EDITORIALS

Oct 23, 2000

Yugoslavia's long road

Having toppled Mr. Slobodan Milosevic, Yugoslavia's new president, Mr. Vojislav Kostunica, must now consolidate power if he is to return his country to the family of European nations. His efforts to form an interim government have been hampered by Yugoslavia's federal structure and the bad blood between...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.

A boom for business tourism in Japan?

By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

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