News stories by John Feffer

WASHINGTON, Jul 07 (IPS) - Japan has functioned under its "peace constitution" for nearly 70 years. The distinctive Article 9, which prevents the country from conducting war as a means of resolving international conflict, is showing its age.

WASHINGTON, May 14 (IPS) - Small underdeveloped countries, unless they suddenly discover oil or gold, are at a distinct disadvantage in the global arena. If they play by the rules, they will remain underdeveloped. Over the last half-century, very few countries have managed to jump from the Third World to the club of richest nations.

WASHINGTON, Apr 29 (IPS) - President Barack Obama's recent tour of Asia was an opportunity to reenergise his foreign policy after a series of setbacks in the global arena.

WASHINGTON, Apr 14 (IPS) - For the second year in a row, the world is spending a little less on the military. Asia, however, has failed to get the memo. The region is spending more at a time when many others are spending less.

WASHINGTON, Mar 06 (IPS) - As the fate of Ukraine hangs in the balance, U.S. politicians from both parties have been scrambling to take advantage of the crisis.

WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (IPS) - On the 100^th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I, Europe is at peace. There are no major border disputes. The countries form a unified economic bloc instead of a patchwork of jostling alliances.

WASHINGTON, Dic 19 (IPS) - A very Shakespearean epic is unraveling today in Pyongyang.

WASHINGTON, Dic 10 (IPS) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden wrapped up his finger-wagging tour of Asia on Friday, with a busy week of lecturing the Chinese, trying to get the South Koreans and Japanese to play nice with one another, and damning North Korea with faint praise for releasing an 85-year-old American after more than a month of detention.

WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (IPS) - In his 2007 bestseller The World Without Us, journalist Alan Weisman describes a planet that regenerates itself after the disappearance of human beings. Skyscrapers crumble and bridges collapse into rivers, but the primeval forests take over and the buffalo return to roam.

WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (IPS) - U.S policymakers indulge in a variety of child's play called collapsism. They close their eyes when they want a particularly despised adversary to go away. And poof! Kim Jong Eun's North Korea eventually disappears. Raul Castro's Cuba eventually vanishes.