Showing 31 - 40 of 147
Homemade guns a genuine threat
News, Editorial, Published on 17/07/2022
» The assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe should ring alarm bells for governments around the world, including Thailand's, about the threat posed by homemade guns such as the one used in the crime.
The unmatched legacy left by Shinzo Abe
Oped, Published on 15/07/2022
» The assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe is as sad as it is shocking. For Japanese of my generation, the tragedy calls to mind US President John F Kennedy's assassination in 1963 and the attempted assassination of Abe's grandfather, Japanese Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, who was stabbed in 1960 after his government overcame parliamentary resistance to secure passage of the US-Japan Security Treaty.
Abe's death may give Japan scope to curb stimulus
Oped, Published on 14/07/2022
» The death of Shinzo Abe, namesake of Japan's "Abenomics" policy, makes any immediate challenge to his legacy highly unlikely but could eventually allow Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to phase out Abe's government spending and monetary stimulus.
How Abe shaped Japan through foreign policies
Oped, Bill Emmott, Published on 13/07/2022
» Former Japanese prime minister Abe Shinzo's assassination at an election campaign event in Nara, Japan, is both shocking and puzzling. It is shocking because Japan has known almost no political violence for at least a half-century, and because gun ownership in the country is tightly controlled. It is puzzling because Abe, having stepped down as prime minister in 2020, had no formal government role; yet the killing was plainly a political act.
Cold War getting too hot for comfort
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 20/02/2022
» Having been brought up in the 1950s and 60s during what was known as the Cold War, I find it a bit sad that after all the ensuing decades nothing seems to have changed. Russia and the West are at it again, still calling one another names. But as long as it remains name-calling we'll take that.
The puzzle of who killed Haiti's Moise
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 14/07/2021
» The presidential dogs were still alive, which meant that something was very wrong with the official explanation of the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise on July 7. In very poor countries even moderately prosperous people whose houses contain things worth stealing usually have large dogs, and those dogs are trained to attack intruders.
Biden speaks some sense on Afghanistan
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 19/04/2021
» 'If they go, we'll all have to go. That's the reality of it," said a British source about President Joe Biden's announcement that the last American troops will be out of Afghanistan by Sept 11, the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. (What can possibly have possessed him to choose that date?)
Myanmar's national disgrace is the Tatmadaw
Oped, Published on 27/03/2021
» Today is a national holiday in Myanmar called Armed Forces Day. It is intended to honour that country's military and, as such, it is a fitting time to reflect on what exactly is worth celebrating.
Interpreting what's behind the 'veto' coup d'etat
Oped, Published on 20/02/2021
» Military "veto" coups have been prominent in countries where armed forces have played leading roles in society like Myanmar and Thailand -- the two countries which have experienced their fair share of coups. The latest putsch occurred on Feb 1, in Myanmar. With Myanmar's military having had a long and close relationship with Thailand's armed forces, and both countries' militaries prone to staging coups, one wonders to what extent Myanmar's putsch can be explained in the context of the history of coups in mainland Southeast Asia. Does Myanmar follow the Thai model?
Can Navalny change Russia like Lenin did?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 22/01/2021
» When Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny returned to Moscow on Sunday after convalescing in Germany from an attempted poisoning by the FSB domestic spy agency, the regime-friendly media loyally failed to mention his arrival. With one striking exception: Vremya, the flagship news show of Russian state television.