Financial Times (January 29)
“Much more than the fate of Mr Goto hangs in the balance. Japan’s foreign policy, rooted in its pacifist constitution, stands at a tipping point. How the public reacts to the fate of Mr Goto could have a big influence on where things go from here.”
Tags: Constitution, Fate, Foreign policy, Goto, Influence, Japan, Pacifist, Tipping point
Financial Times (November 7)
Germany needs to take a more “active role in a disordered world,” and this means articulating their foreign policy. “Ms Merkel has built her political career on caution–on taking the temperature and weighing all the options before acting…. But leadership in foreign policy demands something more: an understanding that doing nothing can be more dangerous than doing something, and a readiness to step out in front of the crowd. Consensus may be comforting; it does not impress the likes of Mr Putin.”
Tags: Caution, Consensus, Disordered world, Foreign policy, Germany, Merkel, Putin, Readiness
Financial Times (August 13)
“Japan’s public diplomacy hovers between the ludicrous and the sinister. In recent months, the country has specialised in foreign policy gaffes that seem designed to give maximum offence to its Asian neighbours while causing maximum embarrassment to its western allies.” Japan’s newly unveiled naval destroyer, which looks a lot like an aircraft carrier, is the most recent offense. It shares the name “Izumo” with “a Japanese warship that took part in the invasion of China in the 1930s.”
Tags: Aircraft carrier, Allies, Asia, China, Destroyer, Diplomacy, Embarrassment, Foreign policy, Gaffes, Invasion, Izumo, Japan, Warship
Washington Post (June 26)
Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani oversaw Qatar’s rapid economic growth. He came to power 18 years ago after staging a coup against his very own father. “Now the 61-year-old emir has completed another surprising initiative by handing power to his 33-year-old son.” This change “opens the way for adjustments in Qatar’s foreign policies and in the rigid autocracy that still reigns over the skyscrapers and luxury hotels of Doha.” Only time will tell if reform ensues.
Tags: Autocracy, Coup, Doha, Economic growth, Foreign policy, Luxury hotels, Qatar, Reform, Skyscrapers
Financial Times (January 1)
From the onset, Xi Jinping has set a new tone as general secretary of the Communist party. China needs far sweeping reforms as it works to boost domestic demand, strengthen the social safety net, improve governance, and empower consumers and free enterprise. He “should be bold in pushing change” and avoid hiding “reform behind tougher foreign policy.” Dialing down the intensity of territorial disputes would “be a boon for regional peace and security. It would also allow Mr Xi to concentrate on his very real problems at home.”
Financial Times (December 9)
“The political comeback of Shinzo Abe is one of the stranger twists in the recent, convoluted history of Japanese politics…. No one should be under any illusion about Mr Abe. He was a lousy prime minister first time around.” If he now looks like the best candidate this can only be due to “China’s misguided foreign policy, and the sorry state of a Japanese political system unable to produce someone better.”
Tags: Abe, China, Foreign policy, Japan, Politics, Prime minister
Financial Times (December 22)
Moscow will “resume old habits and exploit Europe’s debt-driven disunity.” Despite the economic crisis, the EU must form a united foreign policy front and “seek a constructive relationship with its neighbour. But it should do so without deluding itself about the prospects for Russian reform after Mr Putin’s return to the presidency.”
Tags: Debt crisis, EU, Foreign policy, Moscow, Putin, Russia
