Luke O'Connell

• Asia/Pacific
• World

Ever since the end of the 35-year Japanese occupation of Korea in 1945 and the nearly unparalleled horrors of the Korean War, South Korea’s political and cultural classes have struggled with accusations of cooperation with Japanese imperialists. Th...

• Europe
• World

Relations between Poland and Russia have never been described as warm. While their robust economic cooperation may have had a mutually positive impact in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, any such progress or thawing of Cold War a...

• Asia/Pacific
• Editor's Choice
• World

One of the many complex repercussions of Japan’s turbulent 1960s, the abduction of Japanese civilians by North Korea, is still a potent emotional issue in domestic Japanese politics. In my previous article, I touched upon the actions of the Japanes...

• Asia/Pacific
• Editor's Choice
• Middle East
• World

In spite of distance and lack of discussion in the news media, the East Asian nation of Japan has played a very important role in the history of terrorist and extremist groups in the Middle East. While the headlines may currently focus on the recent ...

• Editor's Choice
• Europe
• World

As the economies of Europe plunge into chaos over plummeting oil prices and a certain recurring Greek tragedy, the heavily sanctioned Russian economy looks elsewhere to support its growth. It is now time for Russia to search eastwards in its economic...

• Editor's Choice
• Europe
• World

There are few gay male icons to look up to on the global political stage. But on November 6, the small, yet trailblazing group of gay political figures was joined by another member Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics. There is only one other Eu...

• Law/Justice
• Terrorism
• United States

In the decades since the “Militia Movement” first rose to prominence in the ’90s, the movement has received even fewer minutes of primetime coverage. Yet, the groups’ threat has not dissipated with the passage time. In fact, some would argue ...

• Asia/Pacific
• Editor's Choice
• World

In a time of highly tense relations with its powerhouse neighbors, Japanese relations with its notoriously malevolent neighbor, North Korea, may be on the upswing. That said, the relations between Japan and the Democratic People’s Republic of K...

• Editor's Choice
• Elections
• The Midterms
• United States

On the surface, Senator Mary Landrieu seems to have all the strengths needed to survive as a Democrat in a red state: long experience in the Senate, the support of business interests and a storied family name. Her decades-old political machine, which...

• Editor's Choice
• The Midterms

Art by Emily Reif Since the founding of America, religion has always been both a powerful influence and a blunt weapon in political discourse. Politicians from across the aisle have no qualms in bringing up their religion when debating policy and pas...

• Europe
• World

Google’s army of Street View cars. Photo by Jaap Meijers From charcoal lines on animal hide to complex code in a Silicon Valley server, maps have played a formidable role in world politics and conflict. Millions have been killed over small trac...

• Culture
• Religion

Like a funhouse mirror for American society, Fred Phelps reflected and distorted American ideals in ways that were uncomfortable and even embarrassing. At news of his death on March 19, however, joyous tweets and blog posts were abound. Catapulted in...