Into the World:
The Random Thoughts in My Mind

Accessing academic articles as an individual unaffiliated with any academic institution can be financially daunting. Academic journals put out by major publishers require expensive access fees to access their content. Many aggregation websites, not the least Google Scholar and JSTOR, either have their own subscription fees, lead back to sites with their own fees, or are not comprehensive enough to reveal all the most relevant and up-to-date research in a particular field. While universities have the financial resources to provide their researchers with access to many of these databases, individuals cannot hope to do so.

For those with some familiarity with the Japanese language, honorific language is one of the big challenges of using the language for daily interactions. Sentences with the same meaning can be written and spoken in multiple ways, with different wording used to show differing levels of respect for the intended audience. When speaking to those of more advanced age and higher social status, one is expected to use honorific language that shows deference and respect. Failure to do so is not just rude but makes the linguistic output feel awkward and out of place. 

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. 

2018年、台湾政府は2030年までに台湾を英中バイリンガル国家にする 計画を発表 し、英語教師の雇用や訓練、英語教材の作成や利用を目的とする、台湾各地の学校、政府機関に対する 3400万米ドル の初期投資をすることにした。首都台北では、大学とのコラボによる英語教師の研修プログラムが推進され、2021年までには小学校から高校まで含む 51校 がバイリンガル教育対象校と指定された。台北はシンガポールを模範とし、海外人材も在住しやすいグローバル社会を目指している。

近年、日本やアジアの大都会で歩き回ると、所々で外国人の存在を見かける。見た目で明らかに地元の人ではないことはすぐわかるが、彼らは頑張って現地の言葉でコミュニケーションをとっている。世界はグローバル化によってこのような国際移民の数が増加している。2020年世界経済フォーラムの 統計データ によると、同年において出身国以外に住む人口は2.72億人に達し、1995年の1.74億人を遥かに上回っている。新型コロナヴィルスによって海外移住は一旦困難となったものの、今後の世界状況をみると、母国を離れ、他国で常住し、仕事や学習に励む人々が増える傾向は止まらないと思われる。

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.

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.