Headlines

Reading the air on being Japanese

As birth rates fall and countries turn to immigration to address their labor shortages, a lot of countries around the world are struggling with crises of national identity. Japan is one of them. Over a decade ago, Japan began opening itself up to mass immigration. Because Japan

Asia

Trump threatens to invade Iran, torpedoing Swiss peace talks

US President Donald Trump’s threats to destroy Iran and send US forces to occupy the country on Sunday appear to have derailed peace negotiations in Switzerland, with the Iranian delegation reportedly walking out and demanding an apology. Following Iran’s announcement that it

Asia

China’s Malacca panic jails US scholar to appease Myanmar

The Strait of Hormuz isn’t China’s only chokepoint. The Strait of Malacca may be more strategically vital — and on June 12, Beijing arrested an American scholar to protect its access to it. Min Zin, a scholar of China-Myanmar relations and US citizen, was wrongfully detained in

Asia

How America’s war crowned Iran as the Gulf’s new hegemon

There is a particular irony — the kind that history savors — in the fact that the United States set out in February 2026 to destroy Iran as a regional power and instead ended up cementing its dominance. This is not a paradox – it is a pattern. Anyone who has paid attention to

Asia

US-Iran talks go into Day 2 after Trump threats, Hormuz closure

BUERGENSTOCK, Switzerland/DUBAI, June 22 - Iran-U.S. peace talks in Switzerland stretched into their second day on Monday, after a tense opening marked by Tehran's announcement it had again closed the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. President Donald Trump repeating his threats to

Asia