Japan’s “global role is additive and complementary to the new world order. People who understand that alliances are not inherited and taken for granted — they are earned, renewed and reimagined by each generation with appreciation and reverence for the giants on whose shoulders we all stand.”

A new generation of 'Japan hands' and a changing world For decades, Joseph Nye and Richard Armitage helped shape a vision of U.S.-Japan ties grounded in shared values, strategic trust and mutual respect.

On the legacies of Richard Armitage and Joseph Nye as Japan Hands—and a case for the nextgen of scholars, policymakers and diplomats who understand Japan as a cornerstone ally.

www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2...

Could You Make a Podcast With Your Ex-Husband?

A new foreign affairs podcast models peacemaking in the assemblage of hosts: Amanpour and Rubin used to be married to each other.

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/s...

UN chief outlines plans for thousands of new job cuts United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres calls for eliminating 20% of jobs in the U.N. Secretariat.

Colum Lynch reports: “The proposed cuts — which could result in the loss of thousands of jobs — are part of Guterres’ reform initiative, dubbed UN80, designed to prepare the world body for a massive reduction in U.S. financial support.”

www.devex.com/news/un-chie...

The Opinion That Ate the Paper — New York Magazine Under Kathleen Kingsbury, the Times’ “Opinion” section has doubled in size. What kind of publication is she building?

The latest hard news on @nytopinion.nytimes.com Opinion, a messy place that’s growing, influential, and complicated.

apple.news/AdJGEdiWtS6y...

- offering economically developing countries a bigger role in the governance

- reforming the existing international financial architecture

- engaging nations like India and Brazil on the internationalization of digital payments infrastructure.

There’s a Reason BRICS Is the Hottest Multilateral Ticket in Town BRICS wants to usher in an international order not so dominated by the West. To a lot of Global South countries, that’s an appealing vision.

WPR “If the U.S. and its allies want the existing order to remain relevant, then they must embrace reforms to give Global South nations more power in the system.”

www.worldpoliticsreview.com/brics-expans...

Fascinating insights on growth and progress in Kenya—despite economic, cultural, and other challenges.

“We inhabit a world not merely of armies and navies but also of transnational threats and borderless challenges, from weapons of mass destruction to virulent pathogens, greenhouse gases, financial contagions, and transformative technologies”

“Global interdependence, however, is even greater today than in Vandenberg’s age—as is U.S. vulnerability.”

Trump’s Mistaken Belief That What Happens Elsewhere Isn’t Washington’s Concern The president’s rejection of global interdependence makes the United States even more vulnerable to transnational threats and borderless challenges.

Stewart Patrick: “There is no moat or Maginot Line that can protect us—only cooperation.” carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...

A Conversation between Daniel Drezner and Julian Zelizer A recording from Daniel W. Drezner and Julian Zelizer's live video

Great discussion on Joseph Nye’s soft power and IR legacy

danieldrezner.substack.com/p/a-conversa...

Amazon’s CEO sounds alarm on complacent leaders who stop learning "It’s as if some people find it too exhausting," he says.

The importance of learning—not just for school, but essential for professional life.

fortune.com/2025/04/10/a...

This Top Fashion Designer Thinks Men’s Pants Are Too Tight — The Wall Street Journal Zegna’s Alessandro Sartori only sleeps for five hours a night

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Strong disagree.

This Top Fashion Designer Thinks Men’s Pants Are Too Tight - The Wall Street Journal

‘The king who made Cromwell the “Lord Privy Seal” has always listened. Until he doesn’t.’

Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light’ Review: Mark Rylance’s Master Manipulator - The Wall Street Journal

Olympic contest to pick IOC president is quirky and controlled by tight campaign and voting rules The IOC is the undisputed champion of running the most tightly managed sports election. It's been compared by veteran Olympic watchers to a conclave to pick a pope.

Rules of Procedure: absolute majority to win, candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, runoff if a tie. Bach “will announce only the name of the candidate who will not participate in the following round of voting,” the IOC rules state.

apnews.com/article/ioc-...

James Reason, Who Used Swiss Cheese to Explain Human Error, Dies at 86 Mistakes happen, he theorized, because multiple vulnerabilities in a system align — like the holes in cheese — to create a recipe for disaster.

“All defenses have holes in them…” like Swiss cheese, according to James Reason, expert on the psychology of human error (1939-2025) www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/s...

As Layoffs Continue, Federal Workers Face Sluggish Job Market Unemployment is low, but there isn’t much room to move around — especially for those with highly government-specific skills.

Tara Sinclair, GW: “reducing public services — and jettisoning the highly trained professionals who understand how government works — could lead to a slow degradation of our productive capacity.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/b...

What the ‘Hamilton’ cancellation at Kennedy Center suggests about America’s global decline — San Francisco Chronicle When Lin-Manuel Miranda canceled a planned run of “Hamilton” at the Washington, D.C., presenter whose board President Donald Trump now chairs, he told the New York Times, “We’re not going to be a part...

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A new show, “Soft “Power”, explores Joseph Nye’s ideas and imagines a world where “China has replaced the U.S. as the globe’s soft superpower” with similar stereotypes about its own people.

Diplomats Decry USAID’s Dismantling in Dissent Cable to Rubio Hundreds of US diplomats wrote a formal letter of protest to decry the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development, saying the move threatens US national security and caused “irreparabl...

Over 700 U.S. diplomats sign a dissent cable: “The dismantling of USAID programs endangers American personnel, diplomats, and military forces overseas.”

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

US proposes Ukraine UN text omitting mention of occupied territory: diplomats The United States proposed Friday a United Nations resolution on the Ukraine conflict that omitted any mention of Kyiv's territory occupied by Russia, diplomatic sources told AFP.

A storm looms Monday in the UN General Assembly, as the U.S. aims to undermine an EU-backed resolution marking 3 years of full-scale war in Ukraine. I talked to @afpfr.bsky.social.
www.france24.com/en/live-news...

As we approach the Winter Solstice, here's what Stonehenge looked like in the 16th century.

BL Add MS 28330; Lucas De Heere, Corte Beschryvinghe van Engheland, Schotland, ende Irland; 1573 CE-1575 CE; England (London); f.36r