Weapons, from handguns to fighter jets, are a profitable business. Generous government contracts, huge profit margins, and inevitable cost over-runs ensure spectacular dividends for weapons producers. Conflicts burning throughout the world guarantee plenty of buyers. After a post-cold war decline, global weapons purchases rose in 2000 to $800 billion. In the aftermath of the September… Continue reading Militarization in the Age of Globalization
The Bush administration faces challenges from allies and adversaries alike in East Asia. The recent submarine incident and rising anti-bases sentiment in Okinawa have put the U.S.-Japan “special relationship” on rocky ground. The war of words with Beijing about human rights and its relations with Iraq suggests that the Bush team’s downgrading of China to… Continue reading Bush Faces Challenges on the Korean Peninsula
Review of Han Sorya and North Korean Literature, Korean Quarterly, Winter 2000 North Korean Economy, Dollars and Sense, 2000 “Progress on the Korean Peninsula?” Foreign Policy in Focus, December 2000 “Gunboat Globalization: The Intersection of Economics and Security in East Asia,”Social Justice, vol. 27, no. 4 (2000) North Korea Reaches Out, FPIF, July 2000 “After… Continue reading 2000 Archives
The Seaview Hotel is the North Korean version of the “field of dreams.” The nearly completed luxury hotel and casino overlooks a beach along Rajin-Sonbong, the free-trade zone in the northeast corner of North Korea bordering China and Russia. It is not a particularly well-known or exciting place. Not yet, at least. The zone is… Continue reading North Korean Economy
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)
Peace Magazine, Summer 2000 (with Karin Lee)