CRISTINA PEDLER WRITES — As the delta variant ravages the world we thought could have been recovering from COVID-19 by now, some countries are feeling neglected. Vaccine development by countries in the West, China, and Russia have brought to light major disparities in access to healthcare. While citizens in the…
Full Article NEPAL: THE INTERRUPTED JOURNEY TO VACCINATION
ELLA KELLEHER WRITES (latest in her review series of new Japanese novels) — Loneliness, a newly standardized leitmotif in Japanese literature, is the driving force behind much of modern Japan’s social dilemmas and Natsuko Imamura’s unnerving novel. Beyond that, the fear over taking risks and forging new relationships frames the narrative…
Full Article BOOK REVIEW: THE WOMAN IN THE PURPLE SKIRT (2021) BY NATSUKO IMAMURA
ANGELINE KEK WRITES — Motherhood — perhaps the most intimate and universal experience to exist in the universe. Nothing organic can start without it, nothing is left untouched by it. Motherhood transcends all differences. Yet, no singular being’s journey with it is ever quite the same as the next. At…
Full Article BOOK REVIEW: A THOUSAND TIMES YOU LOSE YOUR TREASURE (2021) BY HOA NGUYEN
TOM PLATE WRITES — In its quixotic quest for certainty about China – mortal threat or mere robust competitor? – the American consensus now claims to have taken the measure of China and is not in doubt. It would be better if it were. A fictive western mind may be creating…
Full Article CHINA: BUT HOW CERTAIN CAN WE BE?
KIANA KARIMI WRITES — A flickering light, screams of famished, sleep-deprived young girls inside tightly-packed crates, armed men ripping victims from each other’s arms, their innocence slowly stripped away in a twisted, torturous cycle of violence… A chilling rendition of Nirvana’s hit 90’s song “Teenage Spirit” creeps through the screen…
Full Article RUSSIA: MARVEL’S “BLACK WIDOW” PUTS A NEW SPIN ON FEMINISM
CLAIRE GUTE WRITES — When people think of pirates, they often imagine long ago pirates such as Britain’s West Indies’ Blackbeard, or fictional pirates like Jack Sparrow from the Disney amusement park ride, Pirates of the Caribbean. But the issue of piracy plagues many of the world’s oceans, and the…
Full Article SOUTH CHINA SEA: WHERE PIRACY IMPEDES SMOOTH SAILING
FRANCESCO FIMIANI WRITES — Why should Middle East analysts and anyone else interested in the region’s economy and geopolitics be concerned about the tiny nation of Lebanon? Because, in shambles as it is now, it provides yet another theatre for proxy war in the region. The country is facing its…
Full Article LEBANON: WORST ECONOMIC CRISIS OVER A CENTURY AND WHY WE SHOULD CARE
GABY RUSLI WRITES — Indonesia has become one of the world’s epicenters for COVID-19 in recent weeks. With a dramatic surge in cases-averaging 50,000 per day-as well as bed and oxygen scarcity, the country’s Third World history and residual characteristics have thrust it into an especially damaging, vulnerable position. While…
Full Article INDONESIA: WHERE CRAZY, RICH PEOPLE, POLITICS AND THE PRESS HELP SPREAD COVID
TOM PLATE WRITES — Maybe the United Nations – fumbling, hopelessly bureaucratic, partly-corrupt – is in fact beyond redemption. Just forget about it: Let it career down the slippery slope of mediocrity and geopolitical irrelevance and splash ignominiously into New York’s East River — like some waterside condo with a…
Full Article UNITED NATIONS: PERHAPS CHINA, NOT THE U.S., CAN SAVE THE WANING ORGANIZATION
AIDAN SMITH-FAGAN WRITES — Japan’s Defense and Deputy Prime Ministers have both recently affirmed their government’s willingness to defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion from the Chinese mainland. Those statements also coincided with a recent report from the Financial Times detailing joint US-Japanese military exercises in the hotly…
Full Article DIRE STRAITS: JAPAN, THE U.S. AND THE FUTURE OF TAIWAN
ELLA KELLEHER WRITES (latest in her review series of new Japanese novels) – People often dwell on the existential concept of death and what it means to die. But what does it mean to be born? To be alive? For the beautiful, talented, and wealthy, life would seem to be a cornucopia of joyous excitement and…
Full Article BOOK REVIEW: HEAVEN (2021) BY MIEKO KAWAKAMI
ANDREA PLATE WRITES — Robert McDonald, US Secretary of Veterans Affairs under President Obama, struck deep into the hearts of mental healthcare workers at the West Los Angeles Department of Veterans Affairs, albeit unintentionally, when he told them this: The effects of any war can be felt forty years after…
Full Article SRI LANKA: A NEW NOVEL REOPENS WOUNDS OF WAR
TOM PLATE WRITES — There are always concerns about Japan, with its background of not only brilliant accomplishments but also unforgettable aggressions; but now that Japan is in the foreground again, if with cheerless Olympics, historic debt and China rise, who can be sure what’s next? Recall that the geopolitically…
Full Article JAPAN: WHY IT SHOULD PLACE PRIORITY ON MAKING FRIENDS AND MONEY
GABY RUSLI WRITES — Was it my clothes? Did I make the mistake of dressing slightly more provocatively today without realizing it? Why are people so hostile to women? Why do they stare at me as if I am walking around with a target on my back? These questions have…
Full Article INDONESIA: WHERE SEXUAL HARASSMENT NEITHER STOPS NOR STARTS
KIANA KARIMI WRITES — As hope for reform and freedom slowly inched forward, a new cloud of darkness arose over the Iranian public, and for good reason. The media will be under substantial scrutiny and attack soon. Apps such as Signal and Instagram are crucial to everyday modern society by…
Full Article IRAN: WHO NEEDS “BIG BROTHER” WHEN YOU HAVE THE NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT RAISI?
ELLA KELLEHER WRITES (latest in her review series of new Japanese books) – Are you feeling disillusioned with the relentless hustle and colorless monotony of metropolis living? Do you feel like another cog in the capitalist machine? Do you crave a simpler life? Consider adopting and adhering to the daily…
Full Article BOOK REVIEW: THE EASY LIFE IN KAMUSARI (2021) BY SHION MIURA