Hugh Cortazzi

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MundoAsia

The statements and attitudes of some of Japan’s right-wing leaders often undermine the nation’s reputation in the rest of the world. Japan’s influence and prestige are also jeopardized by the way in which business and government are operated as well as by Japanese adherence to traditional behavior patterns.

The problems caused by industrial and financial scandals are not unique to Japan. The scandalous and fraudulent fixing of emissions and fuel-efficiency tests has dealt a serious blow not only to Volkswagen but also to Germany’s industrial reputation.

There have been industrial and accounting scandals in every jurisdiction. The long-term impact of such scandals depends on the speed and efficiency in the way they are handled.…  Seguir leyendo »

Threats from Islamic extremists

InternacionalTerrorismo Internacional

The threats to peace from Putin’s Russia are paralleled by the instability in the Middle East caused largely by Islamic extremism, which poses a particular menace to democracy and human rights. The barbaric murder of two Japanese hostages underlines the dangers to all civilized societies.

The Islamic State group has largely taken over from al-Qaida as the leading exponent of Islamic extremism, although there are other Islamic extremist organizations such as Boko Haram in Nigeria and al Shabaab in Somalia and Kenya, which pose serious threats to peace and human rights.

The civil war in Syria, which has led to over 100,000 deaths and many millions of refugees, provided fertile ground for extremists.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesSocial, ,

The ceremonies held at the end of January marking the 70th anniversary of the Soviet liberation of the German extermination camp at Auschwitz in Poland were a reminder of the obscene and barbarous horrors of the Holocaust. Many of us who watched and mourned, especially perhaps the dwindling number of those of us who served in allied forces during the war, must have reflected on the causes and effects of that devastating conflict.

I have no doubt that it was a just war. Hitler’s Germany had to be defeated if civilization was to be preserved. The Nazi Party adopted Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf” as its “bible.”…  Seguir leyendo »

Press freedoms threatened

ReflexionesSocial,

The horrific and barbaric massacre of journalists and cartoonists at Charlie Hebdo in Paris on Jan. 7 underlines the fact that press freedom can never be taken for granted. It needs to be protected and cherished by all freedom-loving people.

In the centuries leading up to the French revolution of 1789, France suffered, as did so much of Europe, from religious wars and persecution. The revolution with its slogan calling for “liberty, equality and fraternity” was firmly secular and anti-clerical. Theocracy based on religion is inherently intolerant and anti-democratic. Only in a state governed on secular principles upholding the principle of religious tolerance can there be real freedom to choose your religion or to have no religion.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalTerrorismo InternacionalEuropaUnión Europea,

Why were the British so apparently hesitant about joining the fight against Islamic State? The British House of Commons voted overwhelmingly on Sept. 26 to join the American-led air campaign against Islamic State in Iraq. But the motion did not authorize action against targets in Syria.

Prime Minister David Cameron made it clear to the House that the government had no intention of sending British ground forces to Iraq other than in an advisory or training capacity. Except in a humanitarian crisis calling for an immediate response, Parliament would, he declared, be consulted before any action was taken against targets in Syria.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión EuropeaUE a debate

Internationalists, moderates and liberals were shocked by the results of the elections to the European Parliament announced on May 25-26. Extremist parties made gains at the expense of long-established centrist parties.

In Britain, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) topped the poll and won 24 seats against 20 for the opposition Labour Party and 19 for he Conservative Party. The Liberal Democrats suffered a crushing defeat, winning only a single seat while the Green Party won two.

In France the right-wing crypto-fascist National Front led by Marine Le Pen also won 24 seats putting the Socialist Party led by President Francoise Hollande into third place.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesPensamiento, Cultura y Ciencia,

The recent Soma mining disaster in Turkey led to the death of more than 300 miners. A number of mining executives have been detained on suspicion of negligence. The Turkish government has been criticized for not enforcing safety standards in Turkish mines.

The South Korean Sewol ferry disaster caused the death of more than 300 people mainly school children. The captain and many of the crew have been arrested and face charges of manslaughter and criminal negligence. South Korean President Park Geun-hye has disbanded the coast guard and criticized the crew.

Malaysian Airline flight MH370 disappeared with a loss of almost 250 lives, the majority Chinese.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesSocial, ,

The kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls by Boko Haram, an extremist Islamic sect, has rightly aroused international condemnation. Boko Haram, like the Taliban in Afghanistan, believes that educating women is contrary to Islamic precepts. This is not the view of moderate Muslims everywhere.

Nor is it the view of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl who was shot and seriously injured by Taliban terrorists because she was keen to be educated. She has overcome her injuries and is doing her best to promote the rights of girls to an equal education with boys.

This horrific incident in northern Nigeria is not an isolated example of the dire consequences of religious extremism.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalOrden Mundial

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s armed takeover of the Crimean Peninsula and Russian military maneuvers on the eastern frontier of Ukraine have reminded many Western observers of the German takeover of Austria in 1936 and of German behavior in 1938 over the Sudeten Germans in what is now the Czech Republic. The Western response has been condemned by some as feeble and tantamount to the “appeasement” that foreshadowed World War II.

Putin has shown himself to be a ruthless autocrat. He wants to reassert Russian power and form a federation similar to the Soviet Union. He is intolerant of opposition and pursues those who criticize him, but he is not a clone of either Adolf Hitler or Josef Stalin, and the situation does not yet amount to a revival of the Cold War.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesNaturaleza, , ,

When Alice said to the White Queen in “Alice Through the Looking Glass” that “one can’t believe impossible things,” the queen replied, “Why I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

Creationists, who believe the world was created 4004 years before the Christian era, are like the White Queen. So, of course, are Japanese politicians who sometimes still seem to believe the myths about the divine creation of Japan and its Imperial family.

Unfortunately there are intelligent and educated people who, while not believing totally impossible things, tend to believe what they want to believe.

In this category are those who reject the scientific evidence about the effects of carbon emissions on climate.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión Europea, ,

Is Britain about to break up? This is no longer a rhetorical question. A referendum on independence for Scotland has been called for Sept. 18, 2014. If the vote is in favor, Scotland could become an independent country on March 24, 2016. This would mean the end of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as now constituted.

Current opinion polls suggest that the majority of voters in Scotland have yet to be convinced of the case for independence put forward by Alex Salmond, Scotland’s first minister and leader of the Scottish National Party. But opinions could change in the months running up to the referendum, and the British government must consider the implications.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesSocial

Freedom of belief or religion is considered in democratic countries to be a fundamental human right and is enshrined in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Freedom of religion includes the right to change religion or not to have any religion. It also covers the freedom to practice the chosen religion and its various rites.

Freedom of religion does not, however, cover practices that do not conform to the laws of the state. For instance while Islam and some breakaway Mormon sects permit or advocate polygamy, most democratic countries including the United States and Britain insist on monogamy and bigamy is a criminal offense.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo, ,

The coup d’etat by the Egyptian Army in Cairo on July 3 and the arrest of President Mohamed Morsi and his entourage should not be interpreted as signalling the end of the Arab spring or of the possibility of progress in Egypt toward the adoption of democratic norms.

Revolutions against an autocracy rarely lead directly to the immediate establishment of a democratic regime. The French revolution of 1789 led to the terror and eventually to the autocratic French empire of Napoleon Bonaparte. It is difficult to date the real start of French style democracy but it certainly did not come until after the fall of the second French Empire following the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión EuropeaEconomía

Cyprus is divided. The northern part is Turkish while the larger southern part is Greek. U.N. efforts to find a way to unify the island have failed.

The economy of Greek Cyprus has been dependent on tourism, agriculture and, in recent years, on a financial industry that has come to rely heavily on money deposited by Russians and Ukrainians. The suspicion has been that much of these deposits come from laundered and shady money.

Cyprus, which represents less than 1 percent of the gross domestic product of the eurozone, was allowed to join the zone despite its divided status and question marks over its banks.…  Seguir leyendo »