Global economic developments this year, along with the impact of safe-haven investment flows have led to the appreciation of the dollar in global markets, contributed to the high level of unemployment in the U.S. and increased the chances for a double-dip recession in America. All these developments have further highlighted the international tensions over exchange […]
Last week I wrote about Olympus firing its president and CEO, Michael Woodford, over reported “cultural differences.” Olympus Chairman Tsuyoshi Kikugawa blamed Woodford for ignoring the company’s organizational structure, circumventing the hierarchy that is typical in Japan. I thought this was a strange rationale for firing Woodford, since one reason a Japanese corporation might hire […]
There was never a better case study of how not to conduct public policy during an environmental disaster than the way President George W. Bush and his supporting group of miscast advisors handled Hurricane Katrina in 2005. However, after coming to grips with the situation in Thailand and how the administration of newly elected Prime […]
As the debate over the post-2014 Afghanistan gains more attention, observers fear a ‘political earthquake’ in the country where the US troops’ withdrawal coincides with the next Afghan presidential elections. With the exit of the United States, Afghanistan’s economy and sources of financing the government in Kabul […]
Japanese camera and precision-technology maker, Olympus, announced the firing of its president and CEO, the Briton Michael Woodford, last Friday. Woodford, one of the few foreign CEOs in Japan, apparently ruffled some feathers in Olympus’s hierarchy, leading to culture clash. The firing of Woodford illustrates how Japanese values are sometimes at odds with Western, and […]
“Japan: The Strange Country” is a short, animated documentary by graphic designer Kenichi Tanaka. It illustrates a lot of things I’ve been talking about on this blog, and sums up Japan great in under 12 minutes. Tanaka explains that even though Japan is a relatively small country, it is significant for both its heritage and […]
The Japan Tourism Agency plans to offer free airfare to and from Japan to 10,000 foreigners in order to boost the tourism industry. Tourism dropped 50 percent in the months following the March 11 quake and tsunami, due largely to fears of radiation from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The tourism agency, part of […]
India’s Minister for Human Resource Development, Kapil Sibal launched Aakash, the $35 tablet, midst much fanfare last week. The launch was hailed as a grand moment for India’s innovative prowess and claims to have silenced the skeptics. Aakash is developed by DataWind, a wireless Web access products maker in Montreal in partnership with IIT Rajasthan. […]
It was a strange sight at the National War College in Washington D.C. last week: A Vietnamese military officer giving a speech about his country’s national defense. Lieutenant-General Vo Tien Trung, the first member of the Vietnamese military to speak in the United States since the end of the war between the two countries in […]
If you did not get a chance to see the gruesome images from Pakistan when lawyers and educated youths showered rose petals on the murderer of a prominent governor, you are not too late. Thousands of Pakistanis are back on the roads supporting the assassination of Salmaan Taseer, the liberal governor of the country’s most […]
Over the past week, Japan has made it a priority to salvage its economy, as might be expected from a prime minister who was the former finance minister. Japan will raise taxes, sell its stakes in Japan Tobacco, and take drastic measures to halt the rising strength of the yen. Japan’s long-stagnant economy was further […]
Over 150 people have been killed throughout parts of Southeast Asia over the past two months as the region has been inundated by the worst flooding to hit the area in years. From Northern Thailand and neighboring Cambodia, all the way to Vietnam, the Mekong River Delta has turned poor, rural communities and even major […]
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