Author: Leszek Buszynski, IUJ

Russia is going ahead with the purchase of two Mistral class helicopter carriers from France in a deal worth $1.52 billion.

The agreement was signed on 17 June and was proposed when Prime Minister Putin visited France in November 2009. Read more…

Author: Leszek Buszynski, International University Japan

Yukio Hatoyama’s Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) was elected to office by a landslide in the 30 August elections. Japanese voters rejected the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) which had fielded ineffective leaders since Junichiro Koizumi resigned in 2006, the last being the hapless Taro Aso. The new government declared its intention to conduct an autonomous foreign policy and has called for a ‘close and equal alliance’ with the US, a promise repeated in Hatoyama’s Diet speech of 29 October.

In this spirit, Hatoyama has pressed for the removal of the US Marine Corps Air Station from Futenma base in Okinawa, which goes entirely against the 2006 agreement with the US. Read more…