Russia bans ‘revanchist' Japanese association
The Office of the Russian Prosecutor General has designated a Japanese association as 'undesirable' in the country, claiming it is involved in propaganda campaigns that promote revanchism with regard to Russia's Kuril Islands.
The two countries never formally concluded a peace treaty after World War II, due to Japan's claim to four islands which the Soviet Union captured during the war.
According to the authorities, the Northern Territories Issue Association has been advocating for Japan's
'cartographic expansion'
at the expense of Kunashir, Shikotan, Iturup, and the islands of the Lesser Kuril chain – all of which are part of Russia. The organization is
'involved in developing strategies for returning them under Japan's sovereignty,'
the prosecutor's office said in a statement on Monday.
The Russian authorities also accused the association of
'sponsoring Japan's nationwide movement to reclaim'
the Kuril Islands (known in Japan as the Northern Territories), claiming its members are exploiting the issue and publicly refusing to recognize Russian jurisdiction over the islands.
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Peace treaty with Japan 'unrealistic' – Russian envoy
Moscow and Tokyo have made little progress in reaching a final peace treaty over the last eight decades. In the San Francisco Treaty of 1951, Japan renounced its claims to the Kurils, but later argued that the islands in question are not part of the archipelago. Moscow maintains that the four islands are an integral part of Russian territory.
In Russia, being labeled 'undesirable' prohibits organizations from operating in the country and imposes legal consequences on residents and companies for financial or other interactions with them. The Russian Justice Ministry currently lists over 200, including major Western influence groups such as George Soros' Open Society Foundations, the US-based German Marshall Fund, and the pro-NATO Atlantic Council.
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In fact, I dare say that 'learning' is merely a coincidental output of the Ivy League brand When Lehman Brothers and its lesser peers collapsed in 2008, many Singapore-based corporations eagerly scooped up their laid-off executives. The logic? Fail upward. If these whizz kids were truly talented, why did they miss the glaring warning signs during the lead up to the greatest economic meltdown since the Great Depression? The answer lies in the cult of credentialism and an entrenched patronage system. Ivy League MBAs and Rolodexes of central banker contacts are all that matters. The consequences are simply disastrous: A runaway global talent shortage will hit $8.452 trillion in unrealized annual revenues by 2030, more than the projected GDP of India for the same year. Ivy League MBAs often justify their relevance by overcomplicating simple objectives into tedious bureaucratic grinds – all in the name of efficiency, smart systems, and ever-evolving 'best practices'. The result? 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When two corrupt feudal systems mate, their offspring becomes a blueprint for dystopia. India never recovered from this neo-feudal arrangement. If the reader thinks I am exaggerating, let's compare the conditions in the British Raj and China from 1850 to 1976 (when the Cultural Revolution officially ended). During this period, China endured numerous societal setbacks – including rebellions, famines, epidemics, lawlessness, and a world war – which collectively resulted in the deaths of nearly 150 million Chinese. The Taiping Rebellion alone – the most destructive civil war in history – resulted in 20 to 30 million dead, representing 5-10% of China's population at the time. A broad comparison with India during the same period reveals a death toll of 50-70 million, mainly from epidemics and famines. Furthermore, unlike colonial India, many parts of China also lacked central governance. Indian nationalists are quick to blame a variety of bogeymen for their society's lingering failings. Nevertheless, they should ask themselves why US Big Tech-owned news platforms, led by upper-caste Hindu CEOs, no less, showed a decidedly pro-Islamabad bias during the recent Indo-Pakistani military standoff. Maybe, these CEOs are supine apparatchiks, much like their predecessors during the British Raj? Have they been good stewards of the public domain (i.e. internet)? Have they promoted meritocracy in foreign lands? (You can read some stark examples here, here and here). These Indian Big Tech bros, however, showed a lot of vigor and initiative during the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing their employees to take the vaccine or face the pink slip. They led the charge behind the Global Task Force on Pandemic Response, which included an 'unprecedented corporate sector initiative to help India successfully fight COVID-19.' Just check out the credentials of the 'experts' involved here. Shouldn't this task be left to accomplished Indian virologists and medical experts? A tiny few, in the service of a hegemon, can control the fate of billions. India's income inequality is now worse than it was under British rule. As global university inequalities widen further, it is perhaps time to rethink novel approaches to level the education field as many brick and mortar institutions may simply fold during the volatile 2025-30 period. I am optimistic that the use of AI in education will be a great equalizer, but I also fear that Big Tech will force governments into using its proprietary EdTech solutions that are already showing signs of runaway AI hallucinations – simply because the bold new world is all about control and power, not empowerment. Much like the British Raj, I would say.
