Every political season has its hot-button issues. There’s race, abortion, lunar colonies. But the hottest hot-button issue these days, judging from comments by Republican presidential hopefuls as well as what happened during the 2010 mid-term elections, is Islam. Islam dominated the headlines during the summer of 2010. Remember Terry Jones and his pledge to burn… Continue reading Running Against Islam
When Hu Jintao took over as the leader of China in 2002, U.S. companies welcomed his accession as a “good sign for American business.” Political analysts described Hu as a fourth-generation member of the Communist party leadership who might very well turn out to be a “closet liberal.” Playing it safe, the media tended to… Continue reading Our Man in Beijing?
New York, NY Date: Monday March 5 Time: 7-9pm ET Location: Bluestockings Bookstore Address: 172 Allen Street, New York, NY 10002 Philadelphia, PA Date: Wednesday March 7 Time: 7-9pm ET Location: Robin’s Bookstore Address: 110a S. 13th Street Baltimore, MD Date: Thursday March 8 Time: 7-9pm ET Location: Red Emma’s Bookstore Address: 800 St. Paul Street, Baltimore, MD 21202 Washington, DC Date: Monday, March 12 Time: 6:30-8:30 Location: Institute… Continue reading Crusade 2.0 events
Dear Mom: I haven’t written much from Okinawa. I’m sorry about that. I guess maybe you were expecting lots of exciting war stories from your son the Marine. But honestly, the most exciting thing we’ve done is put in a sea wall over by the Torii Beach shoreline and then take it down again when… Continue reading Letter from Okinawa
Stop the Russians from spreading south. This was a primary objective of the Great Game of the 19th century that centered on Central Asia and particularly Afghanistan. The empires of the time – British, Russian, French, Chinese, Ottoman – expended much wealth and endured considerable human suffering during the course of the game. No empire… Continue reading The Not-So-Great Game
Lenin graces the cover of a recent issue of The Economist. The Financial Times is running an entire series on the “crisis in capitalism.” Francis Fukuyama, a recovering neoconservative, makes a plea in Foreign Affairs for the left to get its intellectual act together. And that noted class warrior Newt Gingrich has been assailing Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for being a ruthless moneybags.
In his State of the Union address last night, President Barack Obama began with what is widely perceived to be his strong suit: foreign policy. The nation is safer under his watch, he reassured his audience, now that Osama bin Laden is gone, al-Qaeda is broken, and U.S. troops are out of Iraq. It’s too… Continue reading State of the Union’s Foreign Policy
A century ago, the Ottoman Empire was falling apart as a result of disastrous wars and economic decline. Dubbed “the sick man of Europe,” the Ottoman Empire was not ultimately able to pull itself together. It expired in the flames of World War I, but not before pulling down a good chunk of the world… Continue reading The Sick Man of North America
A man and his son are pushing a shopping cart with their belongings across a devastated American landscape. There has been a global catastrophe, and the few survivors cling to a meager existence. Ruthless gangs roam the ruined cities in search of food. Nothing grows, the animals have all died, and the canned goods have… Continue reading Pollyanna of Peace?
In the movie Memento, the main character suffers from short-term memory loss. He cannot remember anything from day to day, so must write himself notes to explain what happened to him in the recent past. He is desperate to resolve a central mystery in his life. But with his memory a blank, all he can rely on are the cryptic scribbles that he cannot even remember writing. Tragically, the United States is trapped in a similar pattern with North Korea.
He is, in the words of Barbara Walters, a “mild-mannered ophthalmologist.” Indeed, the rather squeamish leader-to-be chose eye surgery because it didn’t involve much blood. He speaks fluent English and can get by in French as well as his native Arabic. His wife is a knock-out, a “rose in the desert” according to a Vogue profile. Reluctant to take over the family business from his father, he interrupted his medical training in London to return home only after his older brother died in a car accident. Then, once at the helm, he released a number of political prisoners and instituted economic reforms that got a thumbs-up from the international business community. He cooperated with the United States in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Even today, he uses all the right words: transparency, dignity, reform.
They’re like a heavy metal band. Dress them up in black, put some Goth makeup on them, give them a name like The Apocalyptics, and they’d fit right in with the head-banger crowd. After all, it’s mostly doom and gloom with the Republican candidates, particularly when they start in on foreign policy.
Islamophobes would like you to believe that they're not anti-Islam. They're only anti-Islamic extremism. So why is it that Islamophobes are always going after mainstream Islam? They lampoon Muhammad. They want to burn not the writings of Osama bin Laden but the Quran itself. They target an Islamic community center in downtown New York City that's the brainchild of an interfaith dialogue proponent and an overseas emissary of the George W. Bush administration.
When Kim Jong Il died last month, it made headlines. When Kim Geun-Tae died just a few days ago, it merited only a small obituary in U.S. newspapers (if at all).
John F. Kennedy essentially bought his way into politics. His father, the wealthy Joseph Kennedy, picked out a nice congressional seat in Massachusetts and basically paid the occupant of the position to step down and run instead for the Boston mayoralty.
Two Cold War Milestones, FPIF, December 26, 2011 North Korea on the Verge of a New Era, FPIF, December 21, 2011 Architects of Change, World Beat, December 20, 2011 Two Leaders, Two Deaths, FPIF, December 19, 2011 “The New Chicken Littles,” World Beat, December 13, 2011 “Appeasement Complex,” World Beat, December 6, 2011″ “Occupy Foreign Affairs,” World Beat,… Continue reading 2011 Archives
Poland 1989: a man, a woman, a revolution, a revelation. ABOUT In search of adventure in Poland 1989, a young man discovers a female assassin, a Jewish skinhead, a mysterious bird, and the loss of innocence. John Feffer plays seven characters in this one-man show, with an assist from the bird. Directed by Doug… Continue reading The Bird
Europe’s Economic Crisis, NPR’s Morning Edition, November 19, 2011 Global military spending, Coffee Party radio, March 21, 2011 Korean situation, Anti-War radio, November 26, 2010 U.S.-Korean Relations, Anti-War radio, May 27, 2010 Okinawa vs. Obama, Russia Today, Apil 26, 2010 U.S. Military in Okinawa, Asia Pacific Forum (WBAI), April 13, 2010 Yemen, Hemispheres (KGNU), February 23, 2010 Piracy, Antiwar Radio, September… Continue reading Interviews
War is looming on the Korean peninsula. North Korea has declared that it possesses nuclear weapons. The United States is tightening an economic noose around the country in an attempt to force a regime change. The Bush administration is also keeping a military option on the table, a prospect that terrifies all the countries of East Asia, particularly South Korea.
A concise dissection of the new U.S. unilateralism, Power Trip is the first book-length critique of this fundamental shift in U.S. foreign policy to consolidate and extend U.S. global control. Exploring the transformation of U.S. foreign policy begun by the Bush administration when it took office in 2001 and implemented with greater ease and heightened zeal after September 11, Power Trip introduces the cast of characters responsible for the new U.S. power trip and wrestles with the consequences of the new trends in U.S. foreign policy.
"Living in Hope is an Inspiring collection of stories about people who are creating economic alternatives on the ground. Their work and their lives are a sign of hope for us all."
President Barack Obama intended to use the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting last weekend in Hawai'i to signal a shift in U.S. foreign policy away from the Middle East and toward the Asia-Pacific region.
JEJU ISLAND, South Korea, Nov 10, 2011 (IPS) - The South Korean government has been campaigning to have its southern island of Jeju recognised as one of the seven new wonders of nature. A favourite honeymoon spot in Asia and an official "island of peace", Jeju already boasts several UNESCO World Natural Heritage sites.
Middle East Reads, November 8, 2011 The Rise and Fall of Al-Qaeda by Fawaz Gerges (Oxford University Press, 2011), 272 pages. Reviewed by John Feffer Even after the death of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, the routing of his organization in Afghanistan, and the assassination of the leadership of the Arabian Peninsula affiliate, the U.S.… Continue reading Review: The Rise and Fall of Al-Qaeda
WASHINGTON, Oct 17, 2011 (IPS) - The United States and South Korea maintain a close military alliance. Congress just passed a free trade agreement that will boost economic ties with Seoul. And the leaders of the two countries form a small but very powerful mutual admiration society, which The New York Times has termed a "presidential man-crush".
Communities all over the United States are reeling from budget cuts. Military contractors, meanwhile, have remained fat and well-fed on the one part of federal spending that so far hasn't been touched by budget-cutting fever: the Pentagon.
Usually it’s the giant stories that catch your eye. The wars, the uproars, the Arab Spring -- the things you can’t miss. But every now and then, news stories about easily overlooked subjects somehow manage to shine the strongest light on a changing world.
Foreign Policy in Focus, September 29, 2011 Despite the predictions of many obituary writers, North Korea is still around. It was supposed to collapse with the Eastern European communist regimes, but it didn’t. It was supposed to crumble during the great famine of the mid-1990s, but it didn’t. The hard-line policies of the George W.… Continue reading Review: The Survival of North Korea
Washington Post, September 2, 2011 When I was in my early 20s, on break from university in England, I spent a whole month in Budapest because I’d read in a guidebook that there are three great world cuisines: French, Chinese . . . and Hungarian. The author of the book was Hungarian, and I was naive. But still,… Continue reading Smart Mouth: Extending the range of a food lover, and a marriage
John Feffer is a funny guy who is engaged in the somber business of writing and lecturing on foreign policy. But three years ago, he tried something new and stepped onto a Fringe stage with his original play, Krapp’s Last Power Point. He’s been back every year since. This year, he brings us The Bird.