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July 24, 2026
 

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Slavoj Zizek
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani announces that an agreement has been reached on the city's 2027 budget at City Hall on June 30.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2026
Mamdani¡¯s American dream
Something new has emerged with the rise of so-called democratic socialists in the United States.
Iranian women perform a prayer for rainfall at the Saleh Shrine in Tehran on Nov. 14. The country is suffering from severe water shortages.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2025
When communism is the only option
Iran¡¯s flailing response to a nationally destabilizing water crisis should be a warning to everyone.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders campaigns with then-New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in the borough of Queens on Oct. 26.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2025
Zohran Mamdani¡¯s win redefines U.S. politics
Mamdani won because he did for the left what Trump did for the right. He clearly articulated his radical position without worrying about losing the center.
Serbian demonstrators block the main boulevard in the central Serbian city of Kragujevac on Saturday, continuing months long calls for government accountability and reforms.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2025
The new face of global protests
Young Serbs understand that neither justice nor democracy is possible until the tables have been cleared.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow visit St. Sergius monastery, which is considered the spiritual center of the Russian Orthodox Church, in the town of Sergiyev Posad, near Moscow, in June.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 29, 2025
Putin¡¯s distortion of Russian spirituality and authority
Vladimir Putin is merely the latest in a series of murderous modernizers stretching from Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great to Catherine the Great and Stalin.
If Russia insists on its nuclear doctrine, allies must adopt their own and assert that a nonnuclear country attacked by a nuclear power has the right ¡ª and duty ¡ª to receive nuclear weapons for deterrence.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2024
Should nuclear weapons for Ukraine be on the table?
The situation in Ukraine is absurd: While Ukraine¡¯s missile use is called an escalation, Russia¡¯s attacks on civilians are seen as routine.
Through a de facto partial suspension of democracy, French President Emmanuel Macron has kept the far right out of power and restored stability. Similar measures may prove necessary elsewhere.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2024
Saving democracy from Itself
Macron¡¯s actions may seem undemocratic, but they were necessary to maintain stability and block the rise of the far-right.
Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the leader of the Sudanese Armed Forces, is greeted by an honor guard upon arriving at Juba International Airport in South Sudan on Sept. 16.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2024
The dark reality of global capitalism and perpetual war
In countries like Sudan and the DRC, however, we have something closer to the feudalism of medieval times.
A billboard displaying pro-Russian slogans in the Russian-controlled city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine. The billboard reads: "We are the one people. We are together with Russia."
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2024
Like in magic, Moscow is playing a game of distraction
Defying common sense, the Kremlin continues to proclaim with a straight face that its attack on Ukraine was an act of self-defense.
A destroyed mosque in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City on Monday, the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 8, 2024
Nothing new on the Middle Eastern front
While Israel claims self-defense, this concept can be problematic when considering similar situations in other conflicts, such as Russia¡¯s invasion of Ukraine.
Conservatives were wrong to call the Paris Olympic's opening ceremony a display of LGBTQ+ ideology and PC uniformity. While it did critique conservative nationalism, it mainly targeted rigid PC moralism or "wokeism."
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2024
The emancipatory meaning of the Paris Olympics
The Olympic opening ceremony¡¯s theme didn¡¯t just show Europe at its best; it reminded the world that only Europe could host such an event.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is greeted by supporters after arriving at the airport in Canberra on June 26 as a free man.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 12, 2024
Assange may be free, but are we?
The world needs heroes like Julian Assange. He did what needed to be done and he paid a high price.
Despite mainstream media downplaying the significance, the rise of figures like France's Marine Le Pen and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni indicates a normalization of the radical right.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 21, 2024
The specter of neo-fascism is haunting Europe
Despite mainstream media downplaying the significance, the rise of figures like Marine Le Pen and Giorgia Meloni indicates a normalization of the radical right.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators hold a rally on London¡¯s Waterloo Bridge on May 11. The current protests have many similarities to the student uprisings of the late 1960s, only the latter envisioned a new political movement to ameliorate the ills of their time.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2024
Echoes of despair amid global outrage over Gaza conflict
Everyone knows that the situation in Gaza is unacceptable. But a great deal of energy has been devoted to postponing the kind of intervention that the crisis requires.
Police officers stand guard in front of the entrance to the venue of the so-called Palestine Conference in Berlin on April 12. Anger over Israeli aggression in Gaza is growing in the U.S. and in other parts of the world, including in the West.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2024
The world cannot just cancel Palestine
Germany and other Western governments are appropriating cancel culture to stop demonstrations against Israeli aggression, using antisemitism as a shield.
An Israeli soldier celebrates after returning home from Gaza amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas militants in November.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 19, 2024
No barbarism without poetry
The collective abandonment of reason and where it leads is all too familiar ¡ª and yet remains all too appealing.
A rally in Moscow marks the centenary of the Russian Revolution on Nov. 7, 2017. Vladimir Lenin's belief in principled pragmatism offers important lessons for today's political leaders.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2024
Lenin¡¯s lesson for Israel and Ukraine
The Bolshevik leader brought strong principles together with concrete analysis, an approach that could guide political leaders in Israel and Ukraine alike.
Practioners of Judaism pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem¡¯s Old City on Nov. 12.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 6, 2023
Unraveling the new roots of modern antisemitism
Whereas antisemitism reproaches Jews for being rootless, Zionism tries to correct this supposed failure.
An Albanian communist hangs a banner with Enver Hoxha's image in a public cemetery in Tirana in April 2012 to mark the anniversary of the hard-line Stalinist dictator's death.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2023
When freedom does not bring about justice
From communism to capitalism, Lea Ypi¡¯s book,¡°Free: Coming of Age at the End of History¡± reflects on Albania¡¯s transition to freedom.
Israeli soldiers inspect the burned cars of festival-goers who were attacked and massacred by Hamas militants near the border with the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2023
The real dividing line between Israel and Palestine
The choice is not between hard-line factions; it is between the fundamentalists on both sides and all those who still believe in the possibility of peace.
Japan scientists identify clusters of protein believed to trigger Alzheimer¡¯s disease
A team of researchers said they found a ¡°seed¡± that accelerates the amyloid beta accumulation process in the brain, naming it ¡°Peak 1 amyloid beta,¡± as seen in a mouse's brain.
Indian brothers make manga debut in Japan
Two Indian brothers made their manga debut in Japan with "Kung Fu Kung Fool" ¡ª an action-comedy series that follows the adventures of a notorious thief and a young boy.
Japan weighs regulating Pokemon cards amid trading mania
A Pokemon event is held in Jakarta on July 11
Low-income families in Japan cut food and air conditioning during summer break
Yumiko Watanabe, the chairperson of nonprofit Kidsdoor, explains the results of a survey in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on July 1.
Iran strikes on CIA facilities prompt questions about possible Russian role
Iranian drones are displayed in an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on Jan. 13, 2025.U.S. officials have acknowledged that Russia has ?provided targeting ?and other support for Iran in its drone strikes on U.S. targets in the Persian Gulf region.
Can Japanese comedy get laughs in English? Yoshimoto Kogyo lets the jokes rip
Wes-P has millions of followers and his viral clips made him recognizable out of Japan.
The 180-day locals: Life on Japan¡¯s digital nomad visa
Christopher Flinn works remotely from Tokyo earlier this month. Japan issued 646 digital nomad visas in 2025, but tourism officials are hoping to increase that figure in the coming years, with Japan's relatively cheap cost of living and the weak yen seen as potential draws for young professionals.
Japan reveals hint of new defense spending target in fiscal blueprint
The Self-Defense Forces' Type 16 mobile combat vehicle fires during a joint live-fire drill with U.S. Marines as part of the annual Resolute Dragon exercises in Yufu, Oita Prefecture, on June 28.
Summer has arrived in Japan and so have hot sleepless nights
Amid the heat and humidity in Japan, a good night¡¯s sleep is growing increasingly elusive without the heavy use of air conditioning.
Maya Ongaku¡¯s DIY dream is getting bigger
The members of Maya Ongaku ¡ª (from left) Tsutomu Sonoda, Shoei Ikeda and Ryota Takano ¡ª grew up on the Shonan Coast south of Tokyo and have been friends since their school days.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

For many people, utility poles and power lines have become such a familiar part of Japan¡¯s landscape that they often go unnoticed.
Why Japan¡¯s utility poles won¡¯t be disappearing anytime soon
By Alex K.T. Martin

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