In The News

“We the Japanese People” – A Reflection on Public Opinion

Hikari Agakimi May 22, 2006
For more than 60 years following its devastation in World War II, Japan has held onto an intense fear of militarism, renouncing the right to wage war and limiting its self-defense force. A side effect of such pacifist policies, according to scholar Hikari Agakimi, is a carefree people who struggle to find a national identity. In a 2005 survey of high school students, only 13 percent reported...

Europe Faces Globalization – Part I

Patrick Sabatier May 16, 2006
As global competition intensifies, governments devise strategies to protect jobs, industries and reputation. This two-part series analyzes contrasting approaches to managing globalization that have emerged in Europe, one from France and the other from Denmark. France appears as the most protectionist member of the EU, yet is open to foreign investment. The government has no problem with French...

L’Europe face à la mondialisation – Partie I

Patrick Sabatier May 16, 2006
Pendant que la concurrence mondiale s’intensifie, les gouvernements conçoivent des stratégies pour protéger leur marché du travail, leurs industries et leur réputation. Cet article en deux parties analyse les diverses approches adoptées pour répondre à la globalisation qui ont émergé en Europe, une en France et l'autre au Danemark. La France semble en tant que membre le plus protectionniste...

Cuba Plans Offshore Wells Banned in US Waters

Michael Janofsky May 10, 2006
The US and Cuba partitioned the waters of Florida Straits years ago, and the US never expected that Cuba would hurry to develop the underlying oil and gas fields. Cuba might not have immediate need for the energy supplies, but other nations do. So the Cuban government negotiated a partnership with emerging economic giants China and India to drill and extract oil and gas from the large underwater...

East Asia’s Troubled Waters – Part III

William Underwood May 2, 2006
The bitterness from invasions and atrocities can last for generations, and international protocol calls for one-time aggressors to apologize for mistakes and extend some symbolic reparations, even if miniscule compared with the true costs of suffering. Before and during WWII, Imperial Japan invaded cities along the Asia Pacific coast, particularly north China, abducting young men to toil in...

Moment of Truth

Robert Scheer May 1, 2006
US polls cite illegal immigration a major concern, and politicians are divided over solutions. Yet the personal economic decisions by most US citizens tend to show more concern about low prices than protecting jobs or wages on the whole. Author Robert Scheer labels the so-called immigration “crisis” as fiction. Throughout history, whenever perceptions emerge about national security threats, low...

East Asia’s Troubled Waters – Part II

Peter Beck April 27, 2006
In 1910, Japan invaded Korea, colonizing the country for 35 years and attempting to obliterate its culture. Nationalism, fed by historic grievances, lingers today. In the second part of this three-part series, Peter Beck of the International Crisis Group analyzes the troubled relationship between Japan and South Korea, who are major trading partners, yet continue to clash over territorial...