The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) was one of Ronald Reagan’s favorite movies. An alien and his robot visit Earth to warn humans that they must live in peace or die. In the movie’s immortal line, actress Patricia Neal stops the robot from destroying the world by intoning the untranslatable words “Klaatu barada nikto.”… Continue reading Klaatu Barada Nikto
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has ruled Japan for all but one of the last 53 years. But the LDP’s unpopularity, the rise of a strong second party with a charismatic leader and a limp economy may combine to upend Japanese politics in 2008. At its party congress on Jan. 17, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda,… Continue reading Tectonic Upheavals Await Ruling LDP
When the world’s two most populous countries held a summit this month in Beijing, their agenda was brimful with collaboration. India and China, once adversaries that fought a war in 1962, are now leading trading partners. But, while they see eye to eye on several key geopolitical issues such as Iran and have even conducted… Continue reading Eyeing Burma
The United States acts as if it owns the world. This might seem counter-intuitive. After all, more and more foreign entities are lapping up bargain properties in our “homeland.” And aside from U.S. military bases — a not inconsiderable amount of territory — the United States is not land-grabbing the way imperial Rome or London… Continue reading Who Owns the World?
Stefan Theil thinks that his fellow Europeans are brainwashed. He’s done a trans-Atlantic study of textbooks and discovered that schools teach little French and Germans all the wrong things about economics. “Free markets offer chaos while government regulation brings order,” Theil describes the messages transmitted to European students in “Europe’s Philosophy of Failure” in the… Continue reading Poor, Deluded Europeans
Here’s the secret to the last seven years of foreign policy disasters coming from Washington. President Bush has become an acolyte of Timothy Ferriss. Haven’t heard of Ferriss yet? He’s the motivational author who champions a four-hour work week. In order to slim down his schedule, Ferriss recommends a low-information diet. “I never watch the… Continue reading Ignorance Is Bliss
Are we ready for the first missionary president? While the media debates endlessly whether America can overcome racism and sexism and finally elect an African-American commander-in-chief or a female to the White House, there’s been very little consideration of what it might mean to have a former missionary in the Oval Office. Like many Mormons,… Continue reading Missionary Zeal
South Korea’s new president underwent his own personal green revolution when he became mayor of Seoul. In charge of major construction projects at Hyundai for three decades, Lee Myung-bak reversed himself in the new millennium. He made rivers spring from concrete and grass grow where there had once been only cars. President-elect Lee now has… Continue reading A Green Bulldozer
“Spreading the Word,” Foreign Policy In Focus, December 19, 2007 “Take the Plunge,” World Beat, December 17, 2007 “A Return to Diversity in the Balkans?” The American Prospect, December 13, 2007 “The Paradox of East Asian Peace,” Foreign Policy In Focus, December 13, 2007 “Eighth Circle of Hell,” World Beat, December 3, 2007 “The Shadow of Vietnam,” Internationale Politik, Winter… Continue reading 2007 Archives
Korean Quarterly, Spring 2007
Review of Andrei Lankov, North of the DMZ (McFarland and Co., Inc. 2007), 346 pages. In general, scholars love the countries they study. Those who focus on Nicaragua can’t wait to visit the country. Experts on Morocco eagerly await the day they can live there to do fieldwork or archival research. But when… Continue reading North of the DMZ (Review)
Review of Roland Bleiker, Divided Korea: Toward a Culture of Reconciliation (University of Minnesota Press, 2005) and Richard Saccone, Living with the Enemy (Hollym, 2006) According to the ideology of South Korean nationalism, all Koreans are one: one people, one blood. Korea can claim thousands of years of common history. The last 60 years… Continue reading Living with the Enemy (Review)
Albert Beveridge was a promising politician in his 30s when he stood up to speak in favor of war and the promotion of democracy to his peers in the U.S. Senate. A historian, Beveridge unabashedly called for the United States to remake the globe. “We will not renounce our part in the mission of our… Continue reading American Foreign Policy Is Broken
Back in September 2002, Maher Arar was passing through JFK airport in New York. He was expecting a simple transit. A Syrian-born Canadian citizen and wireless technology consultant, Arar was traveling home to Ottawa after a vacation with his family in Tunis. The stopover in New York was the best deal he could get with his frequent… Continue reading Can We Pursue Terrorists without Becoming Like Them
Thanks to all of you who contributed last week, we’re halfway to our goal of raising $5,000 to qualify for our matching gift. For those of you who merely thought about giving a year-end, tax-deductible donation, go on and take the plunge. Time is running out–we need to meet our goal by December 19. Don’t stand on the… Continue reading Take the Plunge
The foreign teachers at the Chinese university were frank. Teaching English and computer science was a means to the end. They wanted to save souls. In 1998, I spent a day at a university tucked into the corner of northeast China. The evangelical Christians who built the Yanbian University of Science and Technology (YUST) catered… Continue reading Spreading the Word
A special place is reserved in Dante’s inferno for false prophets and fraudulent advisors. The heads of those who pry into the secrets of the future are twisted around so that they can only look into the past. Those who give lousy advice earn their own personal sheath of fire. It’s not a very nice… Continue reading Eighth Circle of Hell
The all-you-can-eat lunch buffet at the hotel in Pusan had only a couple dozen pieces of the long strips of dark red sushi. I managed to snag one piece before it ran out. My first experience of whale meat was not chewy at all. It tasted like an especially rich piece of raw tuna. Whale… Continue reading Whale of a Meal
Okay, you Hollywood types are busy, so I’ll cut to the pitch. You all know the Left Behind series? Exactly: the bestsellers about the Apocalypse. You haven’t read them? Here’s a quick summary. Just as Russia launches an attack against Israel to take over the Middle East, the Rapture takes place. Israel’s enemies are mysteriously defeated. All… Continue reading Right Behind
Ataka’s party car. Photo by Don Russell You can find anti-Turkish and anti-Roma slogans spray-painted on the walls of Sofia, in Bulgaria, just as you can elsewhere in the Balkans. But in Bulgaria, the slogan has moved up a level to appear on the side of cars. Like its Balkan neighbors, Bulgaria has significant… Continue reading Postcard from Sofia
Early Sunday morning after a marathon session, Congress put a blue ribbon on the immense hog known as the defense budget and declared it a winner. Just before going on their August vacation, the House approved the 2008 defense appropriations bill of $459 billion. The vote was 395 to 13. With the nearly full support… Continue reading Whole Hog
At the YouTube-CNN debate with the Democratic presidential candidates, Barack Obama boldly said that he would, in his first year as president, speak with the leaders of Cuba, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, and Iran “without preconditions.” Rival Hillary Clinton pounced on the answer by declaring Obama’s approach “irresponsible and frankly naive.” Forget liberal vs. conservative… Continue reading Talk to the Hand
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s first visit to the United States comes at a time of great uncertainty for both Japan and Asia. The North Korean nuclear crisis remains suspended between crisis and resolution. The free trade agreement between the United States and South Korea, still unratified, will have an unclear impact on the rest… Continue reading China Remains Main Concern for U.S.,Japan
Before the age of colonialism, India was a world power. Now, like China, it is returning to the global stage. With economic growth topping 9 percent in 2007, an acknowledged nuclear capability, and a growing role in international relations, it has attained the status of “emerging power.” What still remains unclear, however, is India’s capacity… Continue reading India: Modest Global Power
According to Starbucks, all the world’s a cafe, and all the men and women merely imbibers. “Geography is a flavor,” the conglomerate proclaims. In the store, customers can choose coffee beans from three regions of the world: Africa/Arabia, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. It is part of a marketing strategy designed to educate consumers to treat… Continue reading Geography Is a Flavor
Far East Economic Review, June 2007
International Politik, Winter 2007
<p><b>Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the United States and North Korea bridged their differences and produced a preliminary agreement to resolve their outstanding conflicts. The accord is not exactly a declaration of love. It’s not even a bunch of roses and big box of chocolates. But it’s the friendliest the two countries have… Continue reading North Korean Nuclear Agreement: Annotated
Although only 4 percent of its territory lies in Europe, Turkey has long been anchored in the West. It is a major U.S. military ally and pivotal member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It has been a full member of the Council of Europe since 1949 and an associate member of the… Continue reading Long Anchored in the West, Turkey Looks East
Review of Hyejin Kim, Jia, A Novel of North Korea (San Francisco: Midnight Editions, 2007) During the famine that struck North Korea in the mid-1990s, thousands of hungry refugees poured into northeast China in search of food and work. They often brought with them little more than the clothes on their backs. But they… Continue reading Jia: A Novel of North Korea (Review)