perspectives

The Istanbul Canal was first brought to the world’s attention by Erdogan around the year 2011. Although its plan dates to the pre-Erdogan era, it never came to fruition, either due to a lack of resources or because the project’s dangers weren't properly considered. In fact, the architects of this canal date back to the Ottoman period, which partly gives us an indication of Erdogan’s impulsive attachment to the project. Now tha...

The year is 2018, and the situation is looking bleak for Tsai Ing-wen, the first female elected leader of Taiwan and leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) . Taiwan’s deteriorating international presence, controversial pension reforms, and a slowing economy had seemingly handed much of the political momentum to the nationalist opposition, the Kuomintang (KMT). Indeed, this became evident during the 2018 midterm elect...

In the last month, the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus has become an increasing concern for the international community. The number of people infected by the virus now exceeds that of the SARS outbreak in 2002-2003 and has forced many countries, such as the United States, to place travel restrictions on passengers arriving from China. Given the scale of this crisis, it is somewhat surprising that the World Health Organisation...

Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, has a belated new year’s resolution: establishing a “new era of Japanese diplomacy,'' according to a speech delivered to the Japanese Diet (parliament) on January 20th. 

Certainly, this is nothing unexpected. Since coming to office in 2012, Abe has pursued a foreign policy that is exceptionally active compared to all his predecessors since 1945. 

Most recently, he has attempted to position hi...

Both students and city-based student unions raised their voices against the brutal attack on students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), which took place last Monday. The JNU students, mainly left-leaning and protesting against fee increases on campus, were targeted by masked men with iron rods and sticks. The violence injured around 34 people, according to the police.

Amongst the injured was Aishe Ghosh, president of th...

In the latest headline to provoke discussion over sexism in Japan, it has been discovered that some Japanese companies are not allowing female employees to wear glasses as they believe it contradicts the desired feminine image expected from female workers.

Social media in Japan has been flooded with the news that women working on makeup counters were told that they were not allowed to wear glasses, as it did not fit with the co...