LOS ANGELES — Intellectual precision is especially vital in times of geopolitical passion. The full totality of evil of the Syrian government is now on display for the entire world to see. The brutality of President Bashar Assad is beyond immense. And so the blame game has begun. The obvious…
Author: Tom Plate
Tom Plate is a journalist and university
professor who has worked at Time magazine,
the Los Angeles Times, Newsday and other
media institutions.
PACIFIC PERSPECTIVES: Keep the Bickering in Private When Nurturing a Serious Relationship
Don’t get me wrong. Abject kowtowing is no way to forge an honest and productive relationship with anyone, including the People’s Republic of China. We have differences with Beijing ― and Beijing with us. Covering them up or ignoring them will allow them to fester. Relatively minor issues can become…
THE DEATH OF A GREAT JOURNALIST
Anthony Shadid, plagued much of his life by asthma, fell to a fatal asthma attack Feb 16 while on dangerous assignment in Syria. This acclaimed New York Times correspondent, who had previously worked at The Associated Press and The Boston Globe, had garnered many journalistic awards, including a Pulitzer Prize…
BOOK EXCERPT: The Enigma of Thailand’s Thaksin
The Following Excerpt from the New Book ‘Conversations with Thaksin’ Appeared First – and Recently — in The Japan Times daily newspaper in Tokyo. It is reprinted in its entirety below. CONVERSATIONS WITH THAKSIN OF THAILAND: PORTRAIT OF A PRIME MINISTER WHO BECAME THE PRIME SUSPECT IN HIS OWN LAND…
PACIFIC PERSPECTIVES: Two Ladies Work Together to Get One Big Policy Right
U.S. Dramatically Opens Diplomatic Door to Myanmar: Perhaps a democratic system of government will not prove the final answer for Myanmar. Just take a look at the Philippines if you’re crazy about another possible “for-sale” democracy in Asia. But considering what the good people of what used to be called…
Remembering Father Daly
How should the worth of a life be weighed? For when a phenomenon like Father John P. Daly, S.J., dies, that’s a question you start asking yourself. What is a life worth? In his own over-intellectualized Harvard way, T.S. Eliot used to tantalize around that question with this unforgettable line…
CELEBRATING A PRIEST WHO HELPED PUT ASIA ON THE AMERICAN MAP
How should the worth of a life be weighed? For when a phenomenon like Father John P Daly, S.J., dies, that’s a question you start asking yourself. What is a life worth? In his own over-intellectualized Harvard way, T.S. Eliot used to tantalize around that with this from The Love…
PACIFIC PERSPECTIVES: The Death of a Great American Professor: A Story of Scholars and Journalists
Scholars and journalists don’t always get along (right, call this Dept. of Understatement). But their need for each other is endless and often deep, even when each side bull-headedly refuses to admit it. Let’s put the matter this way: Journalists are generally scavenger birds of the moment, tweeting their view…
PACIFIC PERSPECTIVES: How to Better Understand Asia and the World
A book bag of contemporary gifts that show real smarts December 4, 2011 LOS ANGELES – It has finally hit Washington that Asia will be the major-league playing field for the foreseeable geopolitical future. But why should we complain when Uncle-Sam-comes-lately? Instead, we vow stay ahead of the great global…
Kudos Corner
In our judgment, David Pilling is easily and consistently the best (non-U.S.) columnist writing about Asia, and has been honored once again for his perceptive and leading-edge commentaries on the world’s fastest rising region. This time the honor comes from the 2011 Comment Awards in London (sponsored by Barclays and…
PACIFIC PERSPECTIVES: Vietnam on the Positive side, Asia on the American Mind
16 November 2011 Los Angeles — Real-life diplomacy reveals, as Lord Palmerston, twice British prime minister (1855-8, 1859-65), famously put it: “We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.” Over the decades…
TAIWAN: Tang Fei Video Interview
The Asia Media Interview HOW DANGEROUS IS CHINA’S MILITARY BUILDUP? An Exclusive Interview with Tang Fei, former Premier of Taiwan and Career Air Force Officer. Interviewed by Tom Plate, Asia Media’s Editor in Chief No one can be certain, of course, but Tang Fei’s guess may be better than almost…
Pacific Perspectives: An Asian Leader Receives Coveted American Award
They honored the controversial, though increasingly appreciated, Asian statesman Lee Kuan Yew at the historic Ford Theater in Washington recently, and frankly I wish I had been there.