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December 12, 2024
 

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China has shifted the economic narrative. The country's rapid growth and production under a repressive regime challenges the idea that good institutions are necessary for wealth.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2024

Beijing’s success is a conundrum for Nobel winners

China has shifted the economic narrative. The country's rapid growth under a repressive regime challenges the idea that good institutions are necessary for wealth.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a BRICS business forum in Moscow on Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2024

The rise of BRICS and the emerging multipolar world

The diversity among BRICS members presents challenges in forming a unified agenda, especially given differing political systems and goals.
Workers picket outside the Boeing Co. manufacturing facility during a strike in Renton, Washington, on Oct. 3.
COMMENTARY
Oct 20, 2024

Time for unions to join the 21st-century economy

Automation stands to make U.S. ports and transportation of goods cheaper and more efficient. And it is easy to see why unions oppose it.
A battery charge technology display at the Engie pavilion at the Paris Motor Show on Tuesday. Japan's EV market share remains significantly lower than in other countries, with only 2.2% of cars sold being battery EVs, compared to 18% in France and 25% in China.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 18, 2024

Japan hopes electric cars are just a bad dream

Automakers face many setbacks in electrification, but Japan uniquely argues that the shift is not only logistically challenging but fundamentally misconceived.
The emotional impact of constant news about wars and disasters is weighing heavily on many in the younger generations, causing them to seek ways to cope with their distress and anxiety.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2024

Is the apocalypse making you too anxious to work?

A poll reveals that a significant portion of the Gen Z and millennial generations feel unable to function at work due to distress over current events.
Since the Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008, Manchester City has gone from a middling team to winning six of the last seven Premier League titles, an unprecedented success in over 130 years of English soccer.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2024

Soccer needs to avoid a tyranny of the rich

A dispute between the Premier League and Manchester City has both sides claiming victory.
Having learned from the experience of losing in the last election and from actions taken by similar movements elsewhere, another Trump administration would be far more effective at wielding — and maintaining — power.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2024

Why another Trump term would be worse than the first

A political movement with autocratic tendencies often becomes more ruthless and effective after experiencing electoral defeat.
ASEAN leaders pose for a group photo during the 21st ASEAN-India Summit in Vientiane on Oct. 10. U.S. President Joe Biden was notably absent once again from this years ASEAN gathering.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2024

The U.S. risks irrelevance in Asia

While the Biden administration has boosted U.S. influence in the short term, the long-term outlook for Washington is one of increasing irrelevance in Asia.
A sculpture representing Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, located on the grounds of a park in Budapest
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 22, 2024

Who was Bitcoin’s Satoshi? I need to know and so do you.

It’s only natural, and even healthy, to be curious about who could have created more than $1 trillion in market capitalization.
China's strategic government support has enabled it to lead in the production and supply chains for renewable technologies, including wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 22, 2024

What happens when China becomes the green tech superpower?

What should be of more concern is the “soft power” that Beijing will acquire by mastering the green tech sector.
Fernando Valenzuela speaks during a pregame ceremony at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in July 2019.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 23, 2024

Los Angeles Dodgers icon Fernando Valenzuela dead at 63

The Mexican pitcher played 17 seasons in MLB for six clubs but was best remembered for his time with the Dodgers.
An apartment building damaged by a Russian air strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on Oct. 1
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 23, 2024

Selling out Ukraine casts shame on the West

This war started because Moscow refuses to tolerate a successful democratic, independent neighbor, which also remains the chief impediment to ending it.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party looks set for a bruising election night. The question for its leader, Shigeru Ishiba, is how bad the damage will be.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 23, 2024

Ishiba and the LDP race to stem the electoral bleeding

Weeks into Shigeru Ishiba's premiership and mere days out from a general election, red alert signals are sounding in Tokyo’s corridors of power.
Former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi presents his report on the future of European competitiveness to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Sept. 17.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 23, 2024

Europe’s wake-up call on innovation and competitiveness

Europe stands at a critical juncture, needing to choose between maintaining the status quo or moving toward deeper integration.
The concept of "Buy American" has gained political traction among both leading U.S. parties, appealing to nationalist sentiments and the idea of supporting domestic jobs. But such a policy comes with real costs, monetary and otherwise.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 23, 2024

‘Buy American’ policies don’t help Americans

Overall, the study's researchers estimate that "Buy American" provisions cost about $125,000 per job created, a relatively expensive investment.
Yahya Sinwar gives a speech in Gaza City in April 2023. Israeli forces cornered and killed the leader of Hamas in a ruined house in Gaza on Oct. 16.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 23, 2024

The killing of Sinwar presents a tricky opportunity

It’s always a mistake to speak of "solutions” in the Middle East, but plausible grounds for optimism can do a lot to dissolve the allure of fanaticism.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pose for a group photo at a meeting on Ukraine reconstruction at the United Nations on Sept. 25.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2024

Shifting the paradigm in Ukraine

In Ukraine, inaction — the refusal to permit Ukraine’s government to act in self-defense — possesses the quality of death.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2024

China and India bury the hatchet — for now, at least

Despite the agreement to disengage, the lack of trust is palpable. We are still just one misstep from an army patrol from another dangerous flare-up.
A demonstration calling for the return of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Lucerne, Switzerland, in June. Securing detainees' fair treatment and release isn't important only for resolving the Russia-Ukraine war, but to uphold human rights writ large.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Oct 25, 2024

Human rights are key to resolving the war in Ukraine

The war against Russia can't be won without clear political objectives. This also means not losing sight of the need to uphold human rights in Ukraine, and beyond.
In Japan, terms like "progressive," "liberal," "conservative," and "nationalist" may sound familiar but do not align with their meanings in other democracies.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 25, 2024

How to understand labels in Japanese politics

The issues that define political labels are often unique to Japan. As a result, quite a few Western authors will pick them up and use them.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is launched for a mission to study one of Jupiter's 95 moons from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Oct. 14.
COMMENTARY
Oct 25, 2024

In space, no one can hear Musk's rivals scream

The billionaire's gravity-defying lead is a painful one for competitors. Is it too late to catch up?
Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the leader of the Sudanese Armed Forces, is greeted by an honor guard upon arriving at Juba International Airport in South Sudan on Sept. 16.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2024

The dark reality of global capitalism and perpetual war

In countries like Sudan and the DRC, however, we have something closer to the feudalism of medieval times.
This screen grab released on Oct. 26 by the Israeli military shows one of its air force planes departing to carry out strikes on Iran.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2024

Israel’s strike on Iran was smart. Now take the win.

Both Iran and Israel need to reconsider their aggressive postures to prevent a devastating regional conflict.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the Liberal Democratic Party's headquarters on Sunday, the day of a general election in which his party failed to secure even a simple majority together with its junior coalition party, Komeito.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 28, 2024

Breaking down the LDP’s punishing defeat

The LDP has been delivered a crushing electoral setback. How did this happen? What comes next? What does this mean for policymaking? Some of the key questions answered.
On Sunday, voters delivered the LDP its biggest electoral setback since 2009, showing their dissatisfaction with recent scandals that have ravaged the party and fundamental issues in its makeup.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 28, 2024

Japan's October surprise

The debacle facing the LDP may be the immediate result of recent scandals, but there are deeper, structural reasons why voters have lost confidence in the party.
Yoshihiko Noda, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, walks past a monitor displaying Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba of the Liberal Democratic Party. Neither party gained a majority in Sunday's general election.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 28, 2024

A general-election postmortem

The LDP is left to pick up the pieces of Ishiba's disastrous decision to call a snap election, putting him at risk of becoming Japan's shortest-lived prime minister.
Singapore's Marina Bay Sands at dusk on Sept. 17
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 28, 2024

AI boom and wild weather take spotlight in Southeast Asian earnings

Stronger currencies, driven in part by the Federal Reserve’s pivot to interest-rate cuts, also buoyed stocks.
NATO and the so-called Indo-Pacific Four nations of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand have largely focused on security matters in Europe.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Oct 29, 2024

Why the security of Asia and Europe are inseparable

Cooperation between Europe and the Indo-Pacific, including Japan, has never been more important as their defense depends not only on the U.S., but on each other.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba bows to Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers during a news conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday, a day after the party recorded disappointing results in the Lower House election.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 29, 2024

A disastrous poll puts Japan politics on shaky path

The Japanese public was crying out for change, but Ishiba entirely failed to offer it, instead using warmed-over catchphrases from Kishida.
Today's religious thinkers face the challenge of demonstrating that faith offers deeper meaning and understanding in an increasingly secular world.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2024

Is the world ready for a religious comeback?

Individuals are seeking meaning through alternative avenues, suggesting a readiness for religious discourse.
Firms should quit turning foreign workers into Japanese ones
Filipino housekeepers undergo training to work for a Japanese staffing company. By applying the same criteria when hiring overseas and local workers, Japanese firms tend to underutilize the unique skills that foreign nationals can bring.
Winter chill, hot baths and the risk of heat shock: How to stay safe
A health ministry survey showed that 5,824 people age 65 and older died in a bathtub in their home or other residential facilities in 2022, more than double the number of people who died in a traffic accident.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Nihon Hidankyo calls for a world without nukes
One of the representatives of 2024 Nobel Peace Prize winner Nihon Hidankyo, Terumi Tanaka, speaks during the Nobel Peace Prize awarding ceremony in Oslo City Hall on Tuesday.
Victim of alleged staged suicide was subjected to years of abuse
Manabu Sasaki, who runs a painting company, is one of four suspects arrested on suspicion of murdering 56-year-old Osamu Takano.
South Korean police blocked from raid on president's office
Protesters attend a rally calling for the impeachment of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in front of the headquarters of the ruling People Power Party in Seoul on Tuesday.
‘Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron’ documentary meditates on auteur's creativity and legacy
“Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron" provides an in-depth look into the octogenarian auteur’s creative process and personal reflections.
Yurie Collins: ‘Everyone seems sedated, fed-up … that’s why they turn to comedy’
Yurie Collins is a bilingual comedian based in Tokyo. In addition to being a prize-winning roast comic, her dating-themed "Tokyo Hoe Tales" shows have proven to be a hit with women of all nationalities.
As Japan nears new climate goal, criticism of policy process ramps up
The government is preparing to set Japan’s new Nationally Determined Contribution, an emissions reduction commitment made by members of the United Nations climate framework's Paris Agreement.
Winter chill, hot baths and the risk of heat shock: How to stay safe
A health ministry survey showed that 5,824 people age 65 and older died in a bathtub in their home or other residential facilities in 2022, more than double the number of people who died in a traffic accident.
It’s Japan versus China for 2024’s game of the year
While FromSoftware's Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is a strong contender for game of the year, Black Myth: Wukong, the first AAA game made by a Chinese developer, offers some stiff competition.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

People in cities across Japan will pop into their local convenience store for any number of products they believe will help them with a night of drinking.
Hangover cures are everywhere in Japan — but do they work?
By Thu-Huong Ha

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’
Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

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