Japan’s economy once again is growing, albeit slowly, but the road back from the nation’s longest recession since World War II is rocky. With the job market still unsettled and the yen dropping in value, wary consumers are not returning to their old shopping habits. A different breed of Japanese consumer has emerged in the wake of the global financial meltdown and may be here to stay. Once known for their mass consumption of luxury goods, they now are getting a reputation as avid discount shoppers. As traditional department store revenues plunge, discount retailers are enjoying a surge in popularity. Take Wal-Mart. For the first time since it entered Japan seven years ago through its Seiyu subsidiary, the world’s largest retailer expects to generate a profit in Japan in 2009.
Posted November 23, 2009

I immediately regretted giving the man in the seat next to me my newspaper because it had something I wanted to read more about, the latest installment in the Chip Tsao scandal. Chip Tsao had written a piece for Hong Kong Magazine calling the Philippines “a nation of servants.” The weird thing about the Chip Tsao incident was that it had been intended by the Hong Kong writer as satire, not so much against Filipinos as against the imperious attitudes of China in its dispute with the Philippines over the Spratly Islands as well as the Hong Kong Chinese attitude of superiority towards Filipinos.
Posted November 4, 2009

As U.S. President Barack Obama visits Tokyo on the first stop of his inaugural trip to Asia, he may unknowingly step into a looming crisis in the alliance with Japan. But it is not the alliance crisis he may be led to expect. Much of the punditry in the media would have us believe that Japan and the United States were on the verge of a breakup over where to relocate 60 Marine helicopters. Yet durable alliances are based on common interests, not simply disagreements over means. As difficult an issue as the relocation of Futenma Marine Air Station has been, however, the salient question is whether next year’s half-centenary celebration of the 1960 Mutual Security Treaty will mark the end of the alliance as we know it or the beginning of the alliance we both need for the 21st century.
Posted November 13, 2009

A strategy for the so-called Af-Pak region must start with a definition of the Taliban today. No longer the Islamist group that aided the al Qaeda attackers of 9/11, the Taliban now is more of a peasant revolt – a group of well-armed mercenaries, drug traffickers, and disenchanted youth without prospects – making a bold challenge to the government authorities who have not been able to deliver social services in remote rural areas. Comprised largely of Pashtuns, the Taliban also projects ethnic nationalism, and like the Kurds, there are tens of millions of them on both sides of a frontier, but without their own country. Preventing the Taliban from overrunning Pakistan is an objective that should resonate with the American people – although a pro-Taliban coup from within is another alarming contingency.
Posted November 10, 2009

Once again, the Ambani brothers in India are at loggerheads. They are caught in a complicated business dispute that raises questions about the way contracts are honored in India, the role the state plays in such disputes, and the way India prices its assets. None of this augurs well for India’s investment climate.
Posted October 28, 2009

Just days before his party took power in September, Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) lawmaker Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi stated that missile defense was “almost totally useless.” That week, as DPJ leader Yukio Hatoyama became Japan’s prime minister on Sept. 16, Japan Air Self-Defense Forces shot down a mock ballistic missile over the skies of New Mexico. Which security policy approach will survive under Japan’s new government? The answer has implications not only for Japan, but also for the United States’ position in Asia.
Posted October 15, 2009

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. There will be massive military parades and many speeches by the leaders of the Communist Party. But no one will mention the very real possibility of political upheaval in the near future, or the economic inequality, job losses and slow down in economic growth the country is currently experiencing.
Posted October 1, 2009

On Sept. 13, hundreds took to the streets to protest the beating of three Hong Kong journalists in Urumqi and to condemn the Xinjiang government’s response. A local delegate to the National People’s Congres counsels “patience,” saying Premier Wen Jiabao is not the one raising the night stick, as if a leader bears no responsibility for the actions of its government officials, as if a citizenry should accept violence and denial as norms. Is this what life must be now that tianxia – under heaven – we’re all “one China”?
Posted October 7, 2009

India's pluralistic nature is perhaps the biggest threat for Islamic extremists. Not only does India have the world’s third-largest Muslim population, despite domestic differences with the majority Hindus, Indian Muslims have remained loyal to the Indian state, and have fully embraced democracy. What’s more, talented Muslims have often reached the top of Indian corporations, judiciary, armed forces, bureaucracy, and other fields, entirely on merit. They are able to express their grievances through the democratic system. It is no surprise, then, that of all the recruits al Qaeda has been able to attract around the world, barely a handful of Indian Muslims have been swayed by al Qaeda’s nihilist ideology.
Posted October 11, 2009