Tag - united-states

 
 

UNITED STATES

COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2014
China flexes its Silk Road muscle
Just as access to American markets and capital was once a key component of U.S. diplomacy, China is now employing its financial and trade muscle to win influence. It's 'New Silk Road' maritime and land belts have become the centerpiece of its economic diplomacy.
EDITORIALS
Nov 7, 2014
The GOP retakes Congress
Despite the Republican Party retaking control of the U.S. Senate and increasing its holdings in the House, it's difficult to be optimistic about legislative progress in Washington over the next two years given the deep fissures within the GOP itself.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 7, 2014
What goes around, comes around in American politics
Both the Republican and Democratic parties in the U.S. are going to have to swallow their pride, bid a fond farewell to their dreams of perfect ideological purity, and figure out how to work with the other side if they want to get anything done.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 5, 2014
Is Ukraine's crisis the U.S. and Europe's fault?
The question at the heart of the Ukraine crisis remains whether Russia should have special right to determine the policies and governments of its neighboring countries.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY
Nov 3, 2014
Media plays down Ebola's spread by 'droplets'
Refusing to succumb to panic is laudable and rational, and when the infection rate numbers in the single digits here in the United States, there's no reason to freak out.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 31, 2014
A failure of U.S. democracy and human rights
It is a sad day for democracy when 12 Nobel Peace laureates have to write a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama, himself a Nobel Peace laureate, urging him to end, once and for all, America's flagrant use of torture and other violations of international law.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 31, 2014
Why Russian jets are testing NATO's airspace
The danger of the new Cold War is that there is complete disagreement between Russia on one side and the U.S. and EU on the other as to the dividing lines. For most Russians, the borders created by the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 aren't a given.
COMMENTARY
Oct 28, 2014
Time to end American financial repression
A generation of development economists owe Ronald McKinnon, who died earlier this month, a huge intellectual debt for his insight that governments like the U.S. that engage in free-market rhetoric to channel funds toward themselves hamper financial development.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2014
The Cold War and the cold shoulder
From the current Russian regime's perspective, declarations that EU and NATO expansion is about spreading values, accountable institutions and good governance — not military or economic competition — is beyond hypocritical.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2014
Pyongyang uses live bait to lure Washington
For new talks to succeed with North Korea, the U.S. must expend more energy getting South Korea and Japan, barely on speaking terms, to get along, and end its policy of doing nothing while the North becomes more dangerous.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2014
Why the world shouldn't write off Iraq's army
There is little reason to think that the Iraqi army that the U.S. trained and equipped was professionally incompetent or unable to fight Islamic State forces recently. It simply chose not to fight.
COMMENTARY
Oct 21, 2014
Ebola: a wake-up call for America
The transmission of Ebola to two nurses responsible for the care of an Ebola patient in the U.S. has focused intense scrutiny on U.S. preparedness for a possible outbreak. Robust health agencies should not be taken for granted.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 17, 2014
Rule 1: 'Don't do stupid stuff'
The challenge for the Obama administration as it 'rebalances' toward the Asia-Pacific is that diplomatic and economic interactions lag military ties. That's why a system of trans-Pacific free trade in the region is vital.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 14, 2014
Hong Kong a growing thorn in Sino-American relations
Just as China and the U.S. are preparing for another Xi Jinping-Barack Obama summit, this time in Beijing for the annual APEC leaders meeting, China is stepping up charges that Washington is secretly supporting student-led pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 14, 2014
Saudi Arabia's oil enigma
Saudi Arabia is sometimes likened to a central bank managing the global oil market, adding or withdrawing supplies to control prices. But that vastly overstates the degree of influence, let alone control, that the kingdom exercises over the market.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 8, 2014
Sanctions on Russia will backfire on U.S. and EU
As things stand now, Russia, the U.S. and the EU are being hurt by the West's sanctions on Russia. It is a truly no-win situation for all those involved.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Sep 28, 2014
Europe takes control of Ryder Cup
Captain Fantastic Paul McGinley hailed "a great team performance" after Europe crushed the United States in the Ryder Cup foursomes for the second day running to gallop into a commanding 10-6 lead on Saturday.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2014
A Hillary candidacy is a depressing thought
American women of a certain age are thrilled by the prospect of a possible President Hillary Clinton. Others see her as a throwback to another time, one that's never coming back.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2014
Alliance invites a hollow laugh
A U.S. senator has gone on record touting Syria and Iran as having, together, the means, ability and motivation to wipe out the Islamic State. But President Barack Obama and State Secretary John Kerry — as well as both parties in the U.S. Congress — are not interested.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2014
Obama picking targets while missing the point
Even if President Barack Obama cobbles together a plan to destroy the Islamic State, the problems bedeviling the Persian Gulf, and the greater Middle East more broadly, won't be going away anytime soon.

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’