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August 11, 2026
 

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Nina L. Khrushcheva
Smoke rises from Gazprom Neft¡¯s Moscow oil refinery after a deep Ukrainian drone strike on June 18.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 17, 2026
As Ukraine¡¯s deep strikes mount, Putin lets his country burn
The war has become the organizing principle of Putin¡¯s regime, leaving no path to lasting peace without a fundamental political transformation.
The 12th-century painting The Temptation of Christ by the Devil depicts Satan tempting Jesus in the wilderness. The work is part of The Cloisters Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 2, 2026
When the other side is framed as the antichrist
When rivals become mortal enemies, the instruments of politics and diplomacy cannot work.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, attend the Victory Day military parade in Moscow on May 9, the day Russia celebrates the anniversary of the Soviet Union¡¯s victory over Nazi Germany in WWII.
COMMENTARY / World
May 18, 2026
How Moscow lost friends and global influence
With even Russia¡¯s closest friends hedging their bets, the Kremlin¡¯s ability to project power and shape world affairs has been severely weakened.
While Russia has not reverted to full-bore Stalinism, there is no doubt that President Vladimir Putin has made tremendous strides toward totalitarianism.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 20, 2026
How de-Stalinization may offer lessons for post-Putin Russia
This is not Stalinism yet. While thousands of dissenters have faced punishment for their ¡°crimes¡± under Putin, millions rotted in Stalin¡¯s Gulags.
Modern authoritarians, like those of old, centralize power so tightly that their personal fears, ambitions and miscalculations often drive national actions with global consequences.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2026
The high price of political paranoia
In authoritarian systems, national interests and objectives often conflict with the leader¡¯s beliefs, desires and insecurities.
Russian bloggers are criticizing Vladimir Putin¡¯s silence after the U.S. attacked Venezuela and seized the country¡¯s president, Nicolas Maduro.?
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2026
Why is Putin silent on the capture of Maduro?
While Russian President Vladimir Putin certainly does not relish appearing weak, nor does he want to risk exacerbating tensions with the US.
U.S. President Donald Trump receives the FIFA Peace Prize from the organization¡¯s president at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Dec. 5.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2025
Daddy Trump: When democracies flatter autocrats
Trump¡¯s second administration has vindicated the most dire warnings, targeting agencies and institutions that safeguard democracy at home and project soft power abroad.
Vladimir Putin's crackdown on dissent mirrors the repressive tactics of Peter the Great and Josef Stalin, using fear and fabricated charges to suppress opposition amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2025
In Russia, enemies are everywhere
The number of terrorism-related cases opened in Russia has soared since the country¡¯s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with convictions also rising,
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office on Aug. 22, where he showed off a photo from his meeting earlier that month with Russian President Vladimir Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2025
Donald Trump and Russia¡¯s ¡®useful idiot¡¯
Putin is employing two Soviet-era tactics: enlisting ¡°useful idiots¡± in the cause and employing ¡°salami tactics¡± to achieve his ends.
Vladimir Putin has been rehabilitating Josef Stalin for more than two decades ¡ª and reviving some of the worst elements of the Soviet era in the process.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 3, 2025
Glory to Stalin and the whitewashing of history
Russia¡¯s Communist Party recently asserted that, in Stalin¡¯s ¡°deeds and works,¡± Russians can seek ¡°answers to the fateful challenges of our time.¡±
The public breakdown between U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk highlights a familiar pattern among authoritarian leaders: They elevate allies only to discard them when their loyalty falters or their influence threatens the throne.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2025
No loyalty lasts: Why authoritarians always betray their allies
The very public and acrimonious split between U.S. President Donald Trump and his once-favorite aide, Elon Musk, would be amusing if it were not so terrifying. Their puerile public feud demonstrated just how insecure ¡ª even unhinged ¡ª the world¡¯s most powerful person and its wealthiest really are....
With Russia holding the upper hand in Ukraine and its people likely to support a favorable peace, why is the Kremlin unwilling to negotiate?
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 22, 2025
Russia¡¯s two minds on Ukraine
Russian people used to have savings; today, they spend whatever they can get their hands on and even take out loans.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin meets with U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, in St. Petersburg on Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 13, 2025
The U.S. and Russia are negotiating in bad faith
For now, Trump says he is ¡°pissed off¡± at Putin for not being more amenable to his administration¡¯s ceasefire proposals and he is threatening to impose yet more sanctions.
U.S. President Donald Trump¡¯s public humiliation tactics, such as belittling foreign leaders and political opponents, mirror those of dictators like Stalin and Mao, reflecting his authoritarian tendencies.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2025
Fear and loathing in the Oval Office
Trump should be thought of as a dilettante despot, the Roman emperor of reality TV.
Russian Communist Party supporters carry a flag after a ceremony in Moscow to mark the 150th anniversary of Vladimir Lenin's birth in 2020.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2025
Russia¡¯s nostalgia machine works for strongman Putin
If Russians are gripped by a yearning for an imaginary past, they will not fight for a better future.
Destruction left in the wake of Russia's military invasion of Ukraine in the city of Hulyaipole, in the country's Zaporizhzhia region, in September 2022
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2024
Does a savage war of partition await Ukraine?
Donald Trump appears bent on striking a ¡°peace¡± deal with Russia that involves Ukraine¡¯s dismemberment.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump managed to win the support of over 72 million Americans despite his history of trying to overturn elections, a lack of policy expertise and his authoritarian rhetoric.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 7, 2024
A Donald Trump victory: How did it come to this?
How did a convicted felon, who sought to overturn a presidential election that he decisively lost just four years ago, win the votes of more than 72 million Americans?
Vladimir Putin¡¯s actions in Ukraine, much like those of past Soviet leaders, stem from a desire to be recognized as a global power and from perceived Western threats.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2024
The sources of Russian conduct
From Josef Stalin to Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet leaders shared Putin¡¯s desire for ¡°great power¡± prestige.
Giant figures depicting Russian authors Anton Chekhov, Alexander Pushkin, Daniil Kharms and Fyodor Dostoyevsky are paraded through a carnival in central Moscow in September 2015.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2024
When art is all that remains
Looking at the Kremlin today, one wonders, ¡°Do they really now know how this story ends?¡± Art will always have the last word.
Russia isn¡¯t a theocracy but Orthodox Christianity, the state religion, has become all-encompassing, with President Vladimir Putin claiming to have a divine mission.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 4, 2024
The demigods of populism
By claiming to represent the will of the divine, populist leaders like Putin, Modi, Erdogan ¡ª and even Trump ¡ª stake an otherworldly claim to political power.
America¡¯s cyberforces grapple with cluster of deaths by suicide
The U.S. Cyber Command building (center) stands on the National Security Agency campus at Fort Meade, Maryland.
Many Indonesians named after Japanese anime characters
Some people in Indonesia are named Doraemon, the name of a lead character of the blockbuster anime series with the same title.
Yasukuni Shrine introduces ban on military attire and cosplay
People gather in front of thousands of lanterns on display at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on July 15 during the Mitama Matsuri, one of the capital's largest summer o-Bon festivals.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo's Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.
Â鶹´«Ã½ brewers experiment with a secret ingredient: music
At Smoke Craft, a craft beer brewery in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, music isn't just a background to the brewing process ¡ª it's an ingredient.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.
J. League enters new era as league kicks off first fall-spring campaign
Players from each J. League club pose during a kickoff event on Monday ahead of the start of the 2026-27 campaign.

Podcast

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

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

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