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Book Reviews, Korea

Han Sorya and North Korean Literature: The Failure of Socialist Realism in the DPRK (Review)

Review of Brian Myers, Han Sorya and North Korean Literature: The Failure of Socialist Realism in the DPRK (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University East Asia Program, 2000) by John Feffer Han Sorya, the North Korean novelist, seems an unlikely subject for a book. He is little known outside his own country, and was purged and censored… Continue reading Han Sorya and North Korean Literature: The Failure of Socialist Realism in the DPRK (Review)

Korea

A New Era for the Korean Peninsula

Key Points As North Korea has become more engaged internationally, new opportunities have emerged for Korean reunification and greater security in East Asia. Relations between the two Koreas have progressed at an official level, with the June summit, and unofficially through economic and civic contacts. The United States can play a key role in reducing… Continue reading A New Era for the Korean Peninsula

Highlighted, Russia and Eastern Europe

Containment Lite: U.S. Policy toward Russia and Its Neighbors, FPIF

Containment Lite: US policy toward Russia and its neighbors If the US government had wanted to destroy Russia from the inside out, it couldn’t have devised a more effective policy than the so-called “strategic partnership.” From aggressive foreign policy to misguided economic advice to undemocratic influence-peddling, the U.S. has ushered in a cold peace on… Continue reading Containment Lite: U.S. Policy toward Russia and Its Neighbors, FPIF

Korea

U.S.-North-Korea Relations

Key Points The North Korean “threat” is a key justification for U.S. military spending, the presence of U.S. troops in Asia, and a new theater missile defense system. North Korea has criticized the U.S. for not lifting economic sanctions. The U.S. has criticized North Korean missile exports and has suspected Pyongyang of secretly developing a… Continue reading U.S.-North-Korea Relations

Archives

1983-1999 Archives

1999 “The Northeast Asian Arc of Crisis,” Peacework, October 1999 (with Karin Lee) “Containment Lite: U.S. Policy Toward Russia and Its Neighbors,” Foreign Policy in Focus, August 1999 “Fist in a Velvet Glove,” Asiaweek, July 2, 1999 “U.S.-North Korea Relations,” Foreign Policy in Focus, May 1999 “North Korea and the Politics of Engagement,” Peace Review 11:3 (1999) 1998 Eric Lui: The… Continue reading 1983-1999 Archives

Books, Fiction

Foamers

I wrote Foamers under the pseudonym Jon Berson. It's a thriller about trains and train fans published by Scribners in 1997.

Russia and Eastern Europe

US and Former Yugoslavia: Improving on Dayton

Key Problems The Clinton administration has gradually accepted the partition of Bosnia. The administration negotiated the Dayton Accords in part to improve Clinton’s re-election chances. The Dayton Accords have largely stopped the bloodshed in Bosnia, but remain deeply flawed. When war erupted in the former Yugoslavia in 1991, the U.S. kept its distance. “We do… Continue reading US and Former Yugoslavia: Improving on Dayton

Economics, Russia and Eastern Europe

Restructuring East-Central European Economies

Key Problems Structural adjustment has been pitched as the only acceptable economic reform model. This unpopular reform has created political and economic instability. In promoting structural adjustment, the U.S. has concentrated on short-term profits for businesses and narrow diplomatic gain. In 1990, after the collapse of its communist governments, East-Central Europe confronted a daunting challenge:… Continue reading Restructuring East-Central European Economies

Books, Non-Fiction

Europe’s New Nationalism: States and Minorities in Conflict

In the short period since the end of the Cold War, Europeans have witnessed the rebirth of nationalism as a harrowing threat to stability on the continent. The collapse of Yugoslavia, the newly-won independence of the Baltic states, the unification of Germany, the bloody civil wars in Bosnia, and Georgia, Chechnia's abortive attempt at independence, and state-sanctioned xenophobia in France all attest to the rapid expansion of nationalist fervor in Europe.

Books, Non-Fiction

State of the Union 1994: The Clinton Administration and the Nation in Profile

Co-editor with Richard Caplan This look at the first months of the Clinton administration, published in cooperation with the Institute for Policy Studies, is the first of an annual series. The collection of 14 essays written by such authorities as Barry Commoner and Ralph Nader evaluates the administration’s record in key policy areas as it… Continue reading State of the Union 1994: The Clinton Administration and the Nation in Profile

Russia and Eastern Europe

Poland After Solidarity

Poland After Solidarity by John Feffer   Winter 1992/93   ~ In Solidarity’s regional office in Warsaw, Mariusz Ambroziak fielded my 
questions like a penitent wrestling with 
his conscience in the confessional. Yes, he conceded, Poland’s famous trade 
union was in deep trouble. Its membership 
was declining precipitously, it wasn’t organizing in the new private… Continue reading Poland After Solidarity

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