Asia-America Issues
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.
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'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.
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.
POLITICS-ASIA: Talking Peace, Preparing for War
WASHINGTON, Apr 14 (IPS) - Northeast Asia heaved a sigh of relief at the latest news of a breakthrough in the nuclear negotiations with North Korea. The prospects of integrating North Korea into the international community and constructing a peace and security structure for the region have never been rosier.
Fergana Valley’s Violent Reputation ‘Inaccurate’ - Analysts
By John Feffer
WASHINGTON, Mar 29 (IPS) - The Fergana Valley in the centre of Central Asia has a reputation for instability, violent conflict, and Islamic fundamentalism. The three countries whose borders intersect in this densely populated mountainous region – Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan – have struggled to build modern states in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union. This process has indeed been tumultuous.
JAPAN/US: The Pacific and Not-So-Pacific Oceans
By John Feffer
WASHINGTON, Mar 7 (IPS) - The seas both divide and unite Japan and the United States. Caught between countering threat and promoting maritime cooperation, the two countries have worked together to build regional approaches to terrorism and piracy.
