John Nilsson-Wright

Japan's new political force Sanae Takaichi’s decisive election victory reflects broader global trends – a rightward shift in politics and a new, unapologetic nationalism.

Some thoughts on #Japan’s recent and remarkable general election and #Takaichi Sanae’s extraordinary victory.

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/jap...

Japan's new political force Sanae Takaichi’s decisive election victory reflects broader global trends – a rightward shift in politics and a new, unapologetic nationalism.

Sanae Takaichi’s decisive election victory reflects broader global trends – a rightward shift in politics and a new, unapologetic nationalism.

Japan’s new political force | @jnilssonwright.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/jap...

🇯🇵🇺🇸 Japan is under no illusion the US has its back long-term.

@jnilssonwright.bsky.social explains #SanaeTakaichi’s strategy to strengthen ties with Washington while building Japan’s defense capabilities.

More in #F24Debate ➡️ f24.my/BjFR

Today - 09/02/2026 - BBC Sounds News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

As Japan's newly elected prime minister Sanae Takaichi celebrates her historic victory, Darwin's @jnilssonwright.bsky.social spoke to the Today programme about how younger voters have responded to the former heavy metal drummer's new style of politics.

From 49mins.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Thanks

Michael Pollan Says Humanity Is About to Undergo a Revolutionary Change

Michael Pollan Says Humanity Is About to Undergo a Revolutionary Change www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/m... A wise and thought provoking piece. Damassio’s work is exceptionally relevant.

Asahi exit polls predicts that government coalition of LDP and Ishin will secure supermajority of 310 seats plus. Very good night for #Takaichi

Polls close in Japan in 2 minutes. Will b interesting to see if #Takaichi and #LDP and coalition partner #Ishin secure predicted landslide. 310 is magic number for supermajority

Looking forward to this opportunity next Wednesday @darwincollegecam.bsky.social

YouTube video by Centre for Geopolitics War and Diplomacy in an Age of Disorder: Options for Japan and the United Kingdom

On January 27th, FAMES Univ of Camridge & the @camgeopolitics.bsky.social w/ Japanese partners from the Fujitsu Future Studies Center, Keio & Tokyo Universities held a discussion @darwincollegecam.bsky.social on War&Diplomacy in an Age of Disorder. It can seen here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlS8...

Looking forward to this panel discussion as the rules based international order teeters on the edge of a catastrophic collapse

www.ames.cam.ac.uk/events/war-a...

www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/events/war-a...

YouTube video by House Judiciary GOP Jack Smith Deposition

Rivetting viewing. Smith's testimony is devastating, not only for its content but also for the calm assurance with which he responds to the questioning from the committee's counsel.

youtu.be/lR-bhPzQYUE?...

The long tail of Seoul's political crisis A year on from the martial law disaster, South Korean democracy has recovered from its existential moment. Yet it would be premature to assume the country is back on a stable democratic track.

Some thoughts on the state of South Korea's politics and diplomacy a year on from Yoon's extraordinary martial law declaration.
engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-l...

Opinion | The Trump Vibe Shift Is Dead

An optimistic perspective ahead of 2026. The Trump Vibe Shift Is Dead www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/o...

Opinion | Chile’s Election Is More Than Just a Swerve to the Right

Confirmation that the authoritarian turn is real, global & a challenge to the democratic present AND the progressive past. To understand this appeal, focus on the emotional unmooring of Chileans who talk of “malestar,” - or unease, unrest, malaise. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/o...

You’re welcome Reyhan.

What if Our Ancestors Didn’t Feel Anything Like We Do? The historians who want to know how our ancestors experienced love, anger, fear, and sorrow

A provocative but productive starting point - what if feeling, or rather its subjective experiential quality, is not universal. The similarities and differences between the work of Rob Boddice and Javier Moscoso is fascinating.

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

Opinion | What Trump Is Really Doing With His Boat Strikes

Trump continues to seek to corrupt the soul of America…the coarsening of values and the weakening of moral guardrails is an insidious thing.

smids://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/opinion/trump-boat-strikes.html?smid=url-share

Opinion | They Were Supposed to Save Europe. Instead, They’re Condemning It to Horrors.

A useful but sobering discussion of the state of populism in Europe and the failures of current governments to confront the challenge adequately.

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/o...

Thinking the Unthinkable | An East Asia without the U.S.? - CIRSD CIRSD

During the 1st Trump admin, I raised at a European workshop the possibility that the US might withdraw its troops from the Korean peninsula - an idea met with deep scepticism. Now the idea seems worryingly plausible as Chungin Moon explains in this compelling piece.

www.cirsd.org/en/horizons/...

Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty: Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi

Reflections on Japan’s new prime minister #Takaichisanae

www.globalasia.org/forum/leader...

60 Attorneys on the Year of Chaos Inside Trump’s Justice Department Sixty former staffers describe an environment of suspicion and intimidation within the nation’s most powerful law enforcement agency.

Without a doubt the most chilling account of the erosion of legal norms in Trump’s America. A full authoritarian, intimidatory assault on the rule of law in the United States. ‘It’s a Culture Now of Fear’: A Year of Chaos Inside the Justice Department www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Opinion | The lessons Democrats need to learn to win again Continued success for Democrats depends on drawing the right insights from this week’s elections.

@fareedzakaria.bsky.social is right to focus on the politics of nostalgia as a powerful explanation for #populism's contemporary and historical appeal. But equally powerful is the sense of anger and the agency that this emotion provides to the disaffected.

wapo.st/4orQjcD

An interesting opportunity to think about Asian development from a comparative perspective from a thoughtful and experienced and distinguished sociologist.

Timothy Cho’s story is extraordinary and testimony to his courage, resilience and faith.

YouTube video by Centre for Geopolitics Alliances in Alignment: Panel 1 - Trilateralism: the Past and the Present

New video of our recent Korea Foundation-한국국제교류재단 conference on US-Japan-ROK relations. Thanks to KF, @camgeopolitics.bsky.social @crasshlive.bsky.social , FAMES, @darwincollegecam.bsky.social @universitypress.cambridge.org

sinel1: youtu.be/Q5g2aFRTmtg?...

Panel2: youtu.be/T17_gZAfFQQ?...

France is not alone in its political crisis – belief in a democratic world is vanishing | Simon Tisdall The populist right offers a solution in the form of turning back the clock. Macron and his counterparts need to find a different answer fast, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisdall

Identifying the populist phenomenon and the sharp drop in faith in #democracy is depressingly easy. Understanding the root causes of this is harder, but it is surely not merely a function of economic precariousness.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Fascinating & illuminating discussion w/all star cast of commentators from #Japan, #SouthKorea, the #USA and #Europe. Thanks to Korea Foundation for support w/ Yuichi Hosoya Jeffrey Hornung Sheila Smith G Garbagni E Howell, Giwook Shin, Akita Hiroyuki Young-kwan Yoon Chris Hughes & Kuyoun Chung

Professor #Chunginmoon of #Yonsei university provides an illuminating perspective on #ROK-#Japan-#US #trilateralism.

Japan between the Great Powers Japan’s longtime-ruling party has survived potentially fatal setbacks before. But recovering from the current political crisis and navigating a new era of Great Power competition will require a great ...

Some thoughts, ahead of this weekend’s LDP presidential election, on the challenges for Japan’s governing party.

engelsbergideas.com/essays/japan...