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Axis of Intervention

The Bush administration has not attacked any countries recently. But in President George W. Bush’s first five years in office, the United States has established a dangerous precedent in international affairs. The attack on Afghanistan launched a war against not only a state (the Taliban-led government) but also a paramilitary organization (al-Qaida). The intervention into… Continue reading Axis of Intervention

All Talk

Before the recent nuclear test and the famine of the mid-1990s, North Korea engaged in a form of public diplomacy. It promoted juche, its home-grown philosophy of self-reliance. Juche societies sprang up in dozens of countries around the world, especially in the global south where the rhetoric of self-reliance appealed to post-colonial sensibilities. At the… Continue reading All Talk

Political Football

Imagine Iraq as a football game. It’s late in the fourth quarter. Coach George W. Bush is looking at a grim situation on the field. He has just told quarterback Don Rumsfeld to hit the showers, and now he is sending in the new boy, Bob Gates. Several other team members have been sidelined. The… Continue reading Political Football

China

China: What’s the Big Mystery?

The latest recruitment brochure from the Central Intelligence Agency, which beckons the uninitiated to “be a part of a mission that’s larger than all of us,” opens to reveal an image of the red-roofed entrance to Beijing’s Forbidden City. From an oversized portrait on the ancient wall, Chairman Mao and his Mona Lisa smile behold… Continue reading China: What’s the Big Mystery?

Rule of Lawlessness

The HBO series Deadwood depicts a town on the American frontier where law is the exception rather than the rule. The inhabitants of this gold-mining town in the Dakota Territory in the 1870s rely on guns and intimidation and, if necessary, a little torture to secure their claims. Outside, in the wilderness, Indian tribes use… Continue reading Rule of Lawlessness

Military Intelligence

In his bid to appeal to a conservative base on the road to 2008, John McCain repeatedly urged last week that the United States send more troops to Iraq to get the job done. This was a common refrain during the Vietnam War, when McCain was a navy pilot. Top military officials complained that their… Continue reading Military Intelligence

Enlightenment Returns

Immediately after the 2004 elections, U.S. historian Garry Wills described the results as “the day the Enlightenment went out.” He was plainly worried about the impact of fundamentalism not only on the electorate but on Enlightenment values such as “critical intelligence, tolerance, respect for evidence, a regard for the secular sciences.” Wills, by the way,… Continue reading Enlightenment Returns

Stern Warning

The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change released in England last week—and named after the former World Bank economist Nicholas Stern—predicts a 20% cut in global economic activity if climate change continues unabated. Environmentalists have been arguing that global warming will eradicate species, ravage ecosystems, and lead ultimately to the “end of nature”… Continue reading Stern Warning

Not Just Iraq

The Bush administration is getting a drubbing from domestic allies and adversaries alike for its policy in Iraq. Yesterday, The Washington Post declared October 2006 to be the likely tipping point as the public, the politicos, and the punditry have all concluded that U.S. military presence in Iraq is part of the problem, not part… Continue reading Not Just Iraq

FOG Problems

George Bush is losing some of his best global buddies. Junichiro Koizumi stepped down last month as the Japanese prime minister, just in time to leave North Korea’s nuclear test in the hands of his successor, Shinzo Abe. Tony Blair will be shortly handing over the reins of the British government to Gordon Browne. And… Continue reading FOG Problems

Clueless Empires

Wisdom can be very powerful, but the powerful are rarely very wise. The United States is currently going down a well-worn path with its foreign policy. Previous empires have passed this way before, and their wreckage should be visible to the observant. James Fallows titled his book on the Iraq escapade Blind into Baghdad. But… Continue reading Clueless Empires

Korea

Tehran or Pyongyang?

North Korea claims to have tested a nuclear weapon. Iran refuses to halt its uranium enrichment program. The non-proliferation regime teeters on the brink. Washington’s uncompromising tactics with both Tehran and Pyongyang have failed to achieve anything but the most radioactive results. When President Bush introduced the “axis of evil” of Iraq, Iran, and North… Continue reading Tehran or Pyongyang?

African Fantasies

There is so little room in the American consciousness for Africa. “Treat Africa as if it were one country,” Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina advises all would-be chroniclers of the continent in his satirical piece for Granta. “Africa is big: fifty-four countries, 900 million people who are too busy starving and dying and warring and emigrating… Continue reading African Fantasies

Art

Fiesta!

The Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano writes about foreign policy with the flair of a poet. He also writes poetry with the geopolitical knowledge of a foreign policy analyst. His one-volume treatise on the colonial pillage of Latin America (Open Veins of Latin America) is a must-read classic, and his three-volume literary meditation on the continent’s… Continue reading Fiesta!

Book Reviews, Highlighted, Korea

Writers from the Other Asia, The Nation

According to the official North Korean version, the Americans were the culprits. In October 1950, the first year of the Korean War, American soldiers massacred tens of thousands of innocent people in the North Korean city of Sinchon. In perhaps the most horrifying incident, US soldiers led 900 residents, including 300 women and children, into… Continue reading Writers from the Other Asia, The Nation

Korea

Roh v. W

George Bush held a summit last week with a key ally. But if you blinked, you might have missed it. It lasted for about an hour. There was no joint statement or big press conference. It was one of the least newsworthy events in Washington. South Korean president Roh Moo-Hyun had been hoping for more.… Continue reading Roh v. W

Now It’s Personal

When President George W. Bush admitted finally on September 5 that the CIA held suspected terrorists overseas and interrogated them according to an “alternative set of procedures”—an intriguing euphemism for torture—he gave the speech before a hand-picked audience. No pesky journalists were allowed to interrogate the president. In the audience were relatives of those who… Continue reading Now It’s Personal

Liberation Technology

Every new advance in technology is touted for its revolutionary potential. The washing machine was supposed to liberate the housewife. The computer was supposed to liberate the data technician. Now, according to the Pentagon, the latest generation of landmine will liberate the military from all those messy civilian casualties that have so upset the international… Continue reading Liberation Technology

An Antidote to Info Vertigo

Remember 1993? Bill Clinton was sworn in for his first term at the beginning of the year, the Mogadishu debacle took place in October, and the fighting in Bosnia was getting worse. You followed these issues in the newspaper, by radio, or on television. It’s not likely you received your news on-line. After all, 1993… Continue reading An Antidote to Info Vertigo

Hubris and Humanitarianism

Nation-building is a bloody affair. Just ask the Angles or the Visigoths. Oops, you can’t: they don’t exist any more. The Angles and Visigoths were early victims of nation-building, absorbed into the nations of England and Germany respectively. Their disappearance reminds us that war and genocide created nations, though the less violent interactions of inter-marriage,… Continue reading Hubris and Humanitarianism

Islamophobia

Islam’s Two Faces

Welcome to the new e-zine format for Foreign Policy In Focus. The new name of our e-zine, World Beat, emphasizes that our “beat” is the world and that we feature voices from around the planet. We’ll be introducing some new features in the fall, including a section on culture and foreign policy, so the musical… Continue reading Islam’s Two Faces

Korea

Negotiating Space with North Korea

Even though North Korea’s long-range missile turned out to be a dud, Pyongyang has nevertheless achieved its aim by getting the world’s attention. Governments around the world have rushed to condemn Pyongyang. Japan and the United States want to bring the full weight of the United Nations against the country. North Korea, meanwhile, has argued… Continue reading Negotiating Space with North Korea

Archives

2005 Archives

  “To Link or Not to Link: The Human Rights Question in North Korea,” Foreign Policy in Focus, December 19, 2005 Review of Julie Mertus, Bait and Switch, New Politics, Winter 2005 “Chemical Farm,” AlterNet, November 22, 2005 “The End of Anonymity,” ZNet, November 17, 2005 “The Soul of the New Fast Food,” AlterNet, October 20, 2005 “Hunger Strike… Continue reading 2005 Archives

Highlighted Articles