Time for Japan to present a credible energy policy

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Japanese government has provided massive fiscal support, hoping that economic activities would return...

COVID-19 fear will keep the world in a slump

New York – To date, the economic damage wrought by the pandemic has been mostly hidden by massive government subsidy. That’s about to change. And...

Erdogan is erasing Ataturk’s stamp on Turkey

New York – Under normal circumstances, the most important news out of Turkey last weekend would have been a new law that, critics say, represents...

Are riots ever justifiable?

The upside of a new cold war with China

New York – The American founders believed that prolonged rivalry and conflict abroad would eventually degrade the country’s democracy at home....

Is Japan ready for transformational change?

Half of 2020 passed as many of us were busy coping with various disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Several weeks after the state of...

Japan needs fight-style reform

Defense Minister Taro Kono has scrapped a plan to deploy Aegis Ashore, a land-based missile defense system. The decision has triggered a series of...

The political logic of China’s strategic mistakes

Claremont, California – Some of the Chinese government’s recent policies seem to make little practical sense, with its decision to impose a...

Can Japan get out of its downward spiral?

Kizugawa, Kyoto Pref. – Since the mid-1990s, Japan appears to have fallen into a continuous negative spiral in every respect. The past decade...

Being ‘offensive’ in the digital era

One word you will hear a lot more in foreign policy and national security debates is “offensive.” There will be dire warnings about the dangers...

The assassination attempt of Nobusuke Kishi

Kobe – Politically, 1960 was one of most tumultuous years in Japan’s postwar history. It was also one of the most violent. Assassination attempts...

America is being way too calm about COVID-19

New York – The accelerating resurgence of COVID-19 in the United States is filling me with dread. But what’s even scarier is the propensity of...

Five things to know about a possible snap election

Pyeongtaek, South Korea – Following the Tokyo gubernatorial election, rumors continue to swirl in the media about the possibility of a snap Diet...

The ‘British’ 3 million

London – “We will grant BNOs five years’ limited leave to remain (in the United Kingdom), with the right to work or study,” British Foreign...

Is the Aegis Ashore cancellation a mixed blessing?

Washington – On June 24, the National Security Council decided to cancel the planned deployment of Aegis Ashore. Just several days after Prime...

Preparing for a post-Abe agenda

In coming months, Japanese politics are poised to become more exciting. With little more than a year left before Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s LDP...

Meet Trump’s new political football: TikTok

New York – It’s official. TikTok has become a political football. The surging social media app, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., is ensnared...

A special ‘birthday gift’ for Hong Kong

China has forced a new national security law onto the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong. While the new law was anticipated, few thought it...

The fight over a coronavirus vaccine will get ugly

Berlin – For most people, a vaccine against the new coronavirus can’t come soon enough, as it will be the only tolerable way to achieve herd...

Facebook and Zuckerberg disappoint once again

New York – Facebook Inc. still doesn’t get it. A widely anticipated meeting on Tuesday between the social media giant and the civil rights...

America’s Hong Kong approach does more harm than good

Guangzhou, China – While squabbling about the deteriorating situation in Hong Kong, many barely noticed that the year of 2019 was a “year of...

Watch China’s unconventional levers of power in world affairs

Washington – Chinese security forces’ recent remarkable escalation of tensions along disputed boundaries with Japan, Taiwan, India and Southeast...