Japan on Trial: 60 Years Later
By John Feffer
WASHINGTON, Mar 26 (IPS Asia-Pacific) - Although it concluded more than 60 years ago, the Tokyo War Crimes Trial is still a live issue today in Japan -- as in the world at large.
Japan’s Grand Strategy
By John Feffer
WASHINGTON, Mar 12 (IPS) -Japan has entered a season of grand strategising. Government commissions, business associations, leading foundations and academic working groups are all developing blueprints for a new 21st-century Japanese role in the world.
Prospect of Warmer India-Pakistan Ties Remains Dim
By Peter Dhondt
BRUSSELS, Feb 17 (IPS) – After nearly three months of tension between India and Pakistan over the November attacks in Mumbai, prospects for renewed cooperation between the nuclear-armed neighbours remain dim, two South Asian analysts say.
CHINA/US: Rivals, Partners in Asia
By John Feffer
WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (IPS) - With the Six-Party Talks to denuclearise North Korea once again on the ropes and the world reeling from a deepening financial crisis, the United States is looking to China for help.
Japan as Middle Power
By John Feffer
WASHINGTON, Nov 24 (IPS) - Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is nosediving in the polls, its gaffe-prone prime minister Taro Aso has acquired a reputation as his party’s funeral director, and a pivotal election may transform the Japanese political landscape before September.
BURMA: Asia-Europe Summit Can Help
By David Cronin
BRUSSELS, Oct 21 (IPS) - By the end of this week, Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will have spent 13 years under house arrest. By coincidence, the anniversary of her incarceration, Oct. 24), falls on the day the military junta will be represented in a summit between Asian and European leaders in Beijing.
Burma's New Charter: Radical Change or Fig Leaf?
By John Feffer
WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (IPS) - After a drafting process of more than 15 years, Burma unveiled its new constitution in February. The 194-page document has generated a widely disparate response. In May, just days after tropical cyclone Nargis hit Burma and killed tens of thousands of Burmese, the military government reported that 92 percent of the population supported the new constitution in a referendum vote.
Little Scope for Europe-Asia FTAs, Says Expert
By David Cronin
BRUSSELS, Oct 7 (IPS) - Plans to conclude free trade agreements (FTAs) between the European Union and several Asian economies are unlikely to be realised in the near future, a senior Brussels official has conceded.
SOUTH KOREA: Still Dreaming of Regionalism
Analysis - By John Feffer
WASHINGTON, Oct 3 (IPS) - North-east Asia is a critically important locus of geopolitics, but it lacks a regional security structure.
East Asia’s History Wars Rage On
By John Feffer
WASHINGTON, Sep 18 (IPS) – North-east Asia is a relatively peaceful place. Although the Cold War still divides the Korean peninsula and the Taiwan Straits, there are no hot conflicts in the region. Negotiators in the Six-Party Talks are attempting to solve the major security issues of the region through diplomatic means.
But at another level, wars are being waged in North-east Asia every day – over history.
