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Showing posts with the label politics

Religion Can Change the Balance of Power, But Corrupt the Faithful Just as Any Other Source of Power

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The first Dune movie was beautiful but predictable. Gorgeous cinematography courtesy of endless deserts simply could not make up for the predictable plotline. On the eve of being reassigned to rule another realm, a powerful house of aristocrats was backstabbed and wiped out by another house with the acquiescence and assistance of the emperor. Just as predictably, the native population of the realm was unconsulted, or even acknowledged, in the entire process, leaving the new rulers of the realm, just like the one before it, fighting a constant insurgency that disrupts economic production.

Cultural Funding Shows that the EU Keeps Diversity Within the Continent Alive and Well-Preserved

In his heavy Maltese accent, the middle-aged man declared, "You know the Europeans give us money, so we get to renovate all this." Pointing at the big construction site in the middle of the historic town center, the man intended to be both comical and proud. As he casually struck up a conversation with me in my little self-guided tour of his hometown, he was clearly glad to see that there were so many foreigners who were willing to walk its winding stone-cobbled streets, gawking at the Instagram-ready white-washed houses fronted with potted plants.

Malta as a Globalization Hotspot that No One Has Heard of

The local takeout burger place was manned by three youngish workers when I last visited. One yellow, one brown, and one black. Clearly from three different countries (none of which is Malta) and they communicate in perfect English amongst themselves and to their equally multicultural clientele and delivery personnel taking orders for various meal-order apps. This little spot is a perfect microcosm of modern-day Maltese society: a society that is, quite literally, full of people from around the world, working and living together to make the island economy tick along.

Shifting Perceptions: How Public Opinion on Israel is Changing Amidst Hamas' Attacks

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The attack on Israel by Hamas is the literal definition of terrorism. After breaking out from heavy defensive barriers separating Gaza and Israel, Hamas fighters explicitly targeted civilians for murder and abduction, with the equally explicit goal of capturing attention. In causing terror and getting global recognition for it, Hamas has certainly achieved its objectives loud and clear: a world that has only been weeks ago absorbed in the war in Ukraine has almost shifted attention to the Middle East overnight. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, dormant as a political issue for years, suddenly reappeared as a global agenda.

The Death of Prigozhin Shows the Futility of Governments Monopolizing Information

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Distrust in the state and supposed professionals run deep in Russia. For an ordinary Russian, the need for "fixing things up yourself" is ingrained , as there is too great of a chance that unscrupulous individuals with fake licenses charge too much money for not much professional results. From fixing homes to administrating medicine, many Russians do it by themselves, assuming that their amateurism is still more efficient and less deadly than the risk of paying money to the wrong people and facing the deadly consequences of their falsified expertise.

国際情勢の変化で不透明になる日台経済関係

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  今週リトアニアで開催されている北大西洋条約機構(NATO)の首脳会議では当然、お隣、ウクライナでの戦争が主な課題である。ウクライナが領土の奪回で軍事支援が必要である中、NATO各国はどのようにさらなる支援を打ち出すか、そしてウクライナがNATO加盟までの道のりについて議論を重ねている。だが、NATO各国がウクライナ情勢に没頭する中、岸田総理は去年に続き、二年連続でNATOの首脳会議に参加している。日本からもウクライナに引続き支援することを表明すると同時に、NATOがアジアに目を向けることを言及している。

The Potential Impact of Ending Affirmative Action on Educational Consulting

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Hours ago, the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruled that affirmative action – the practice of some of the country's most prestigious universities to openly use race as a factor in promoting diversity of admitted students – is unconstitutional. As expected, among watchers of higher education in the country, this decision has triggered immediate and widespread discussions. The impact of affirmative action policies, especially among overrepresented minorities like Asian Americans, has been noted more than a decade ago when I was a university student. With the policy's formal abolishment, changes to universities' admissions may be significant.

A Massive Earthquake Makes the World Temporarily Forget the Blunders of the Turkish and Syrian Governments

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Looking back at the performance of this blog, peak interest was achieved back in 2011, when the Great Tohoku Earthquake disrupted the normalcy for the entire northern half of Japan and showed just how even in the most stable of societies, major natural disasters can spark a wave of reflections on just how fragile human civilization can be. That series of posts on the aftermath of the Earthquake, including broken supply chains that led to shortages in normally well-stocked Japanese shops and the fraught mental state of normally calm Japanese people, among others, will always be a highlight of this blog.

Can Bollywood Help Indian Nationalism Find Global Resonance?

What do you think of when you hear the words "Bollywood films." Perhaps singing? Dances? Beautiful actors? Exotic locale and clothing? A simple good guy vs. bad guy storyline? These are indeed all very important elements. Indeed, they are the most obvious visual factors that contributed to the global success of Bollywood films in recent years, especially where in locales as diverse as Southeast Asia and eastern Africa, where a large number of Indian expatriates reside and have created vibrant ethnic communities that have gradually pulled in the local majority populations through a distinctive cultural imprint. 

Will EU Countries Banning Russian Citizens Entering Lead to the Creation of a New Iron Curtain?

As the war in Ukraine continues, Western states are now taking even more measures against ordinary Russian citizens. It has been several months since major Western firms pulled out of the Russian market, leaving ordinary Russians with fewer choices in their supermarkets and fewer ways to move their money across international borders. Now, news has emerged that multiple EU states have prohibited the granting of new visas to Russian citizens for the purpose of travel and studying abroad, making it ever more difficult for those wanting to leave Russia to do so legally.

Stability and Security: What the Death of Shinzo Abe Mean for Japan in the Short-term?

It has been a few days since the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe during a parliamentary election campaign speech in Nara prefecture, and the news cycle has somehow moved on. The headline news of the day centered on renewed worries about the "7th wave of COVID" with the spread of the new Omicron BA.5 variant on the domestic side and the continuing political turmoil of Sri Lanka on the international side. While press conferences by law enforcement and the church Abe was allegedly involved in still made the news, they have become afterthoughts as people move on with their lives.

Empowering the Global South to Fight Global Warming: the Importance of Addressing the Geographical Inequality of Climate Change Impact

The term “global warming” is an effective moniker to convey the cross-border nature of an environmental problem. By emphasizing that the planet as a whole is becoming hotter due to human impact, it begs people from all nations and all corners of the globe to solve the problems that they all face as residents of the same planet. The power of the moniker is such that it has largely become a common belief among the believers of global warming that the issue is neither caused by nor can be solved by one particular group of people located in a specific place on Earth. Yet, a closer look at how the world has approached the issue of global warming reveals a gaping discrepancy in how it impacts different countries in different parts of the world.

A New Marcos Heading the Philippines Should Not be Dismissed Just Because of His Family Name

Today, the Philippines ushered in a new political age as the country elected a new president with a controversial background. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his famously shoes-loving wife Imelda, was elected in a landslide victory, with analysts predicting the continuation of the outgoing president Rodrigo Duterte's attempt to create more balance in the country's foreign policy between the US and China. Indeed, Rodrigo's daughter Sara was elected as the vice president in a transparent partnership with Bongbong all but ensuring policy consistency under the new administration. 

When Ordinary Citizens Become Collateral Damage in Reputational Damage for a Nation

As the war in Ukraine enters its second month, the damage being suffered by Russia is expanding from the battlefield and economic numbers to the daily lives of individual citizens. Media reports in Japan, at least, are speaking about Russian residents of the country being hurled abuses and asked to leave, while Russian-owned restaurants seeing downturns in clientele unless they put up high-profile campaigns in support of Ukrainians. The issue is grave enough that the Japanese foreign minister had to release a public statement calling on Japanese citizens to not abuse Russians in the country just because they are Russians.

Suggestions for a More Effective UN as the Era of Major Power Wars Returns

For the UN to become an independent force capable of devising and implementing its own agendas, the organization needs to step above national interests. To do so, it must aggressively push for compromises that align with the interests of all sides in any particular conflict. Only with such initiative-taking can the UN not succumb to one-sidedness when conveying international legitimacy. The task of the UN is not to offer moral high ground to any particular side, but to establish objective forums to discuss how conflicts can be halted in a positive-sum fashion.

UN on the Sidelines of the Russo-Ukrainian War: Reaffirming the Organization's Ineffectiveness in International Conflicts

As the war continues to rage on in Ukraine, the international community has used existing international forums to hash out exactly how to respond to the escalating violence. One of these forums is the UN. Certainly, the organization has so far seen some actions, including strong words from the secretary-general in condemning the war itself as well as resolutions that frame the war as a violation of international norms and humanitarian principles on the part of Russia. Yet, overall, the UN has been largely absent in the war, compared to the EU and NATO.

Does the Russo-Ukrainian War Signal the End of the Tank?

It seems like an endless parade of visual destruction. Videos after videos show destroyed Russian tanks and other armored vehicles strewn by the Ukrainian roadside, some with parts blown off and some even laying upside down. separate videos show aerial videos, of drones unleashing their payloads on the columns of armored vehicles below with devastating impact. News articles, in line with these videos, speak of the latest anti-tank weapons, from Turkish drones to British shoulder-launched missiles, that have slowed down the advance of the Russian army.

Western Sanctions Against Russia Hurt Ordinary Russians, and May Even Make Them More Pro-Putin

As the continuing Russo-Ukrainian War upends the lives of Ukrainian people, with the world following their plight on both traditional and social media, a much less noticed upending of ordinary lives is also happening in Russia. Western companies, from McDonald's and Microsoft to Accenture and Ikea, are rapidly shutting down their operations, depriving the country's residents of the products and services that they have grown used to since the same firms entered and expanded in the Russian market in the aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse.

Just Wasting Time at Work: How a Faraway War Reduces Workplace Productivity

I told myself that I can do this. Yet, the Word document remains blank. “I need a sentence, just a simple idea to get this thing off the ground.” The mind was reaching a state of frenzied desperation, even as the fingers remained motionless on the keyboard. They say they do not accept “garbage” for output. But have they never heard of the saying that one man’s trash is another’s treasure? Maybe what I think is the mundane would be interpreted as extraordinary when read elsewhere.

Social Media Treatment of Professional Athlete Speaks Volumes about Nationalism and Its Place in Sports

Japanese and Chinese social media are respectively inundated with reactions to the misfortunes of two different athletes competing in the ongoing Beijing Winter Olympics. On the Japanese side, the ski jumper Sara Takanashi was disqualified for using a jumpsuit that violated competition rules. She apologized profusely on social media after the disqualification for contributing to Team Japan failing to secure a medal in the team event. On the Chinese side, figure skater Zhu Yi fell during her routine, contributing to China not medalling in the team competition. Videos made rounds of her crying after the fall.