John Dower in Conversation: Part II
A preeminent scholar on the Pacific War uses WWII-era Japan to examine race and US imperialism today. In Part 1 of my conversation with John Dower, the distinguished scholar, author, and thinker, we explored his resistance to Cold War scholarship and its…
John Dower in Conversation: Part I
The groundbreaking historian of Japan talks about the challenges of scholarship during rapidly changing times. John Dower was “Dower the Tower” during my years as a correspondent in Japan. He was a giant in his field, one of the few…
Tillerson’s Asia Trip Could Signal the End US Soft Diplomacy
It was clear as soon as Rex Tillerson arrived in Tokyo late Wednesday that the new secretary of state’s first trip to Asia could turn out to be a mission impossible. In a six-day tour of three nations, the unproven…
The Defense Department is ruining America: Big budgets, militarization and the real story behind our Asia pivot
“Our defense contractors await your business.” That was the message behind Obama and Carter’s visits to Asia You have to tip the cap to Defense Secretary Carter. People in Washington spin things as a matter of course, as Ben Rhodes,…
The Abe-Obama Trans-Pacific Trade Deal Is in Trouble
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, until recently background noise for many Americans, is about to become another field of battle in Washington. As of last week, when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe concluded an unusually long state visit, we’re on notice: This…
The real story behind Shinzo Abe’s visit: China, TPP and what the media won’t tell you about this state visit
We witness reordination of a relationship between the U.S. and Japan that should have died a bad death decades ago. The grande fête Washington has laid on all week for Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, is very unusual on the…
Monetary Easing’s the Game, but It Can’t Fix Economies By Itself
It’s all forces to the deflation front now, except when the troops are fighting inflation. Either way, monetary policy is now the confirmed fashion as all three of the leading economies—Europe, Japan, and the U.S.—simultaneously put their faith in money…
Japan and China Vie for 21st Century Dominance
A specter haunts the great powers of East Asia. It is the specter of ethnic chauvinism and a recrudescent nationalism one would have thought a thing of the past. With this comes the possibility of irrational conflict, and for the…
Japan’s Pivot Away from the West Leads Back to China
Japan-watchers have asked since the “bubble” of the late-1980s, “What are the Japanese going to do?” Now Shinzo Abe, the bluntly nationalist prime minister, is making this clear, prompting a new question: “How will Americans and Japan’s neighbors handle what…
Why China Tiptoed onto the Far Side of the Moon
Xi Jinping’s state media was strangely quiet about its historic lunar landing, writes Patrick Lawrence in this look at the U.S. effort to maintain primacy over advanced technologies. When China landed a space probe on the far side of the…