World Trends

  • Israel’s Gamble, America’s Limit–The War on Iran

    War is always shrouded in a haze of rumor and information control. In this latest conflict with Iran , one could not help but be impressed—at least initially—by Israeli intelligence capabilities and American military prowess, especially with the reported killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Yet the response that followed has been strangely muted, as if something were being held…

  • How to Survive Trump’s Armageddon

    For some time now, analysts have been pointing to the possible end of the U.S.-led postwar order. With the Strait of Hormuz now facing the risk of closure, global stock markets, oil prices, and other indicators are swinging wildly. The atmosphere feels almost apocalyptic. ・ History shows many moments when an existing system of security and economic stability suddenly collapsed.…

  • Trump Lectures Europe on Freedom and Democracy

    Since the birth of the Trump administration, a strange argument has continued between Washington and the European Union. It often feels like the pot calling the kettle black. At the Munich Security Conference in February 2025, Vice President J.D. Vance made a speech, the essence of which can be summarized as folllows: “ The greatest threat to democracy is not…

  • Dialogue with the Late Professor Joseph Nye

    (This essay was originally written in March 2025. Since then, Professor Joseph Nye has passed away. The issues discussed here, however, remain urgent. I have therefore updated and reposted it.) On February 25, 2025, I read in Newsweek Japan an article by Joseph Nye, the architect of the concept of “soft power,” titled “Why America Holds the Advantage in a…

  • Twilight of the Modernity

    (This thesis was published last year, but the situation has barely changed) In China and India, various domestic factors hinder growth. But in this respect, the United States, the European Union, and Japan are not in a better position, either. The West is now deprived of many attributes of the modern era, which facilitated their economic growth. In Western European…

  • On the Restarting of This Blog

    This blog existed for approximately 20 years until December of 2024. After being offline for a year. Now it is restarted with the help of the Urban Connections Inc. team. The reason for its disappearance, as noted at the end, was due to technical factors. / Past data, as of November 29, 2023, has been preserved by the National Diet…