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Reader Mail
Nov 13, 2015

Coverage of China overly critical

Enough already! Normally a fairly balanced newspaper, the Nov. 4 issue of The Japan Times carried no less than eight articles that are directly or indirectly critical of China.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2015

Putin fires a shot across Obama's bow

Barack Obama insists that Vladimir Putin's intervention in Syria is a sign of weakness, but the Russian Navy's recent cruise missile launch showed rising strength.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 20, 2015

Assad marches toward Aleppo in assault likely to stoke fresh wave of refugees to EU

With Russian warplanes in the air and Iranian special forces on the ground, an emboldened Syrian President Bashar Assad is turning back to the biggest trophy in his country's civil war, and this time Europe is also on the front line.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 11, 2015

The reason why Russian jets are buzzing Turkey

Vladmir Putin is willing to sacrifice Russia's warm and profitable ties with Turkey if it means keeping Syrian President Bashar Assad in power.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 10, 2015

Sons and gun lovers, a tragic combination

Yet another deadly shooting in America, but the gun fetishists still refuse to acknowledge the need for even a minimal dose of common sense.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 8, 2015

When you can't see Singapore, it looks like Beijing

Air pollution is getting out of hand in Southeast Asia, and big corporations and small-scale farmers are both to blame.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2015

Saakashvili for Ukraine prime minister?

Reform-minded Mikheil Saakashvili will need a miracle to effect much-needed changes in Ukraine.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 27, 2015

Syrian rebel group plays down al-Qaida ties, looks to play bigger role in country

When an explosion killed almost all of its leaders in a single blow last year, many thought it was the end for Ahrar al-Sham, a powerful Syrian insurgent group founded by members loyal to al-Qaida.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 2015

Crimea's happy now, but for the persecution

Most of Crimea's inhabitants are happy, but for a minority the move to Russian control over the peninsula has been miserable.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2015

Cameron is right about how to take in refugees

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron has taken a battering over his handling of Europe's refugee crisis, but his new approach is the right one.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2015

Beijing's history narrative

The grand parade in the center of Beijing on Sept. 3 to commemorate the end of World War II in China highlighted two contradictory narratives, both immensely important for understanding the country's future path.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 31, 2015

The Republicans' misguided Beijing-bashing

While U.S. Republican presidential candidates clearly view China-bashing as a vote-getter, it's highly unlikely that they'd make good on any of their get-tough policy statements if elected.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2015

War on Islamic State has given Jordan new life

Tiny, oil-poor Jordan has parlayed the war against Islamic State into tangible gains.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 26, 2015

Want more heroes? Bring back the military draft

If the French train incident tells us anything useful about defending against terrorism, it is that ordinary people will sometimes be the only defense.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 12, 2015

A dangerous time for Russia-NATO relations

It is the early stages of a standoff between nuclear powers that are the most dangerous.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2015

Iran deal didn't trigger an arms race

The hyper-arming of the Middle East dates to the mid-2000s, before the U.S. and its partners began negotiating in earnest with Tehran over nuclear weapons.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Aug 8, 2015

Truth hurts: censorship in the media

"Truth, it has been said, is the first casualty of war." — Philip Snowden, July 1916
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2015

Turkey's democracy is being quietly stolen

If President Recep Erdogan succeeds in using a rekindled Kurdish conflict to secure his presidential powers, it will be difficult for Turkish democracy to survive in any meaningful sense.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 29, 2015

Learning English requires a different approach

If the most important goal is to teach Japanese students how to speak the kind of everyday English used in the corporate world, then it's imperative that teachers provide them with frequent practice doing precisely that.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 22, 2015

Syrian Islamists, courting West, say they will protect minorities

A conservative Islamist rebel group said on Tuesday it would protect Syria's minorities, pressing a campaign in Western media to address concerns about one of the most powerful insurgent forces fighting President Bashar al-Assad.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 24, 2015

Newspapers play a critical role in education

Attempting to shield students from the realities of life that newspapers cover on a daily basis is an exercise in futility.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2015

Waterloo shows why the Brits need Europe

Just as Napoleon Bonaparte learned at Waterloo, the British may not want to risk being on their own, outside a resentful Europe that unites against it.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2015

Greece's Tsipras isn't on the side of democracy

The question for Greeks today is whether they think the leftist policies of Syriza will give them a better future with default, capital controls and the drachma.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2015

Erdogan the conqueror

For Turkey's weakened democratic institutions to survive, and for it to remain delicately balanced between East and West, the Kurds and their new friends need to do well in Sunday's elections.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 1, 2015

Tayyipism strikes a chord with Turkish voters

President Recep Erdogan's new Turkey is more religious, more conservative, more rooted in the Middle East and less bound to the West.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 30, 2015

A media circus surrounds Japan's animal acts

The Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums has voted to stop buying dolphins captured during drive hunts conducted by fishermen in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture. For the past decade, the town has received a great deal of negative publicity because of its dolphin slaughter, and the World Association...
COMMENTARY / World
May 24, 2015

Could Palmya be a turning point for Assad?

Syrian President Bashar Assad may have allowed Islamic State to take the World Heritage site of Palmyra, hoping an atrocity there would bring the international community to his side.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 16, 2015

Language of science key to wisdom

Today I'm going to try something a little different — at first, anyway. First, let me tell you a bit about my job.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 2015

Cameron has only himself to blame for tight race

British Prime Minister David Cameron's agenda for the last two years before the election has been dominated by Europe and immigration, but many voters care more about the economy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 2015

Canada's climate change conundrum

A recent announcement that Canada won't match U.S. emission-reduction targets offers a fresh look at Canadians' enduring bipolarity on climate change.

Longform

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