Events last week illustrated that the true fault line in India-China relations remains the 60 year-old acrimony over the Tibetan frontier. From India’s increasing presence in the disputed waters of the South China Sea to the duel over diplomatic influence in Myanmar, developments in recent months amply illustrate how India and China will bump into […]
A committee of lawyers and an accountant appointed by Japanese precision technology maker Olympus said, “The management (at Olympus) was rotten to the core and contaminated what was around it, creating in the worst sense a group mentality of the typical salarymen,” in reference to the company’s practice of “tobashi,” making losses “fly off” the […]
There are two types of power evident in the study of international relations: hard power and soft power. The former is coercive, and is associated with a state’s use of military force or economic pressure in order to maximize its interests. Hard power is advocated by those who believe that relative gains are the most […]
On December 1st, 1961, the Dutch flag, which had flown over the peninsula of West Papua for more than 130 years, was taken down, replaced by the “Morning Star” flag, which signified the new nation’s break from colonialism. By the end of the decade, Indonesia had forcefully annexed West Papua (also known as West Irian […]
Summary of the Past Year Many Pakistanis will remember 2011 as the year of infamy. Those who supported Islamic terrorist groups, including elements in the military, the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound that killed him on May 2nd, was an embarrassing exposure of Islamabad’s double-game. Those who passionately insisted upon more time, rather employing […]
Foreign Policy Association bloggers write their “Year in Review” posts for their respective topics by Dec. 1 of every year. Of course any Year in Review of Japan will be dominated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and subsequent nuclear crisis. Summary of the Past Year The year started out quietly enough in Japan. […]
Japan has voiced concern over the second trial of China’s first aircraft carrier, which started Tuesday. Even though the refitted Soviet carrier is technologically pretty much what you’d expect from a third-world country, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said, “I am concerned about their reinforcement of national defense power, which lacks transparency, and their acceleration […]
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Japan will offer Iraq $750 million in his meeting with visiting Iraqi leader Nouri al-Maliki Tuesday. The loans will go toward refurbishing oil refineries and other infrastructure and health care projects. Noda said: “We are proud of having contributed to the development of Iraq through yen loans and technical cooperation. […]
“One Vision, One Identity, One Community” is the motto of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Was that the case in 2011? The region was predictably under-covered by the US mainstream media. I tried my best to bring unique, insightful coverage of the region as best I could from afar, highlighting a different country […]
As pro-democracy movements swept across the globe over the past year and the list of dictators and autocratic governments toppling, or trying desperately to avoid doing so, continued to grow, a common postulation I heard was whether or not there would be a regime that would appear ahead of the curve of their own protests? […]
I am almost embarrassed to admit this but after having lived in various countries in the Third World, having seen some pretty awful slum towns outside of Johannesburg, having walked through the “dwellings” of the hill tribes of Issan, having crossed the Thai/Burma border at Mae Sai and seeing the endless rows of begging children […]
Last month Secretary of State Hillary Clinton proclaimed, in an article for the Foreign Policy Magazine, ‘America’s Pacific Century’! This week, President Obama will be laying the foundation through a series of multilateral meetings involving Pacific Rim countries. He will start with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Hawaii (Nov 12th-13th), and continue at […]
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has indicated that Japan will participate in U.S.-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks at the APEC summit next weekend in Hawaii. This has triggered emotional responses in both the U.S. and Japan, especially from farmers in Japan, and lawmakers in the U.S. Japan hasn’t been self-sufficient in food since 1920. Japan […]
As the Occupy Wall Street protests continue to rage in downtown New York for its sixth straight week, word has recently come out that some civil society groups in the area are planning to turn their attention to the Waldorf Astoria hotel in midtown next week. That is because on November 7th, the New York […]
The eyes of the nation were glued on the Narayanganj City Corporation elections these past few days. Many wondered why this particular mayoral election of a newly formed city corporation near the capital was of such great significance. The reason for this election’s socio-political significance was it would give everyone an opportunity to see if […]
