John Feffer is director of Foreign Policy In Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies.

He is the author, most recently, of Aftershock: A Journey into Eastern Europe’s Broken Dreams (Zed Books). He is also the author of the dystopian novel Splinterlands (Dispatch Books) and its soon-to-be-released sequel Frostlands. He is the author of several other books, and his articles have appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, USAToday, Los Angeles Review of Books, Salon, and many other publications.

He has been an Open Society fellow, a PanTech fellow in Korean Studies at Stanford University, a Herbert W. Scoville fellow, a writing fellow at Provisions Library in Washington, DC, and a writer in residence at Blue Mountain Center and the Wurlitzer Foundation.

He is a former associate editor of World Policy Journal. He has worked as an international affairs representative in Eastern Europe and East Asia for the American Friends Service Committee. He has studied in England and Russia, lived in Poland and Japan, and traveled widely throughout Europe and Asia.

John has been widely interviewed in print, on radio, and TV.

Learn more about him on his website.

Latest

Trump’s Enablers Should Be Shamed Out of Public Life

The evidence is in: The “adults in the room” at the White House have enabled Trump’s worst impulses, not checked them.

Trump Is Signaling an Unprecedented Right Turn on Foreign Policy

From his feud with Bob Corker to his plans to renege on the Iran deal, Trump’s mood swings mean a dangerous new era of foreign policy.

Germany and the Rise of a ‘Fascist International’

Germany funds foundations for its political parties. If the far right gets one, we’re one step closer to globalizing the alt-right.

Regions from Catalonia to Kurdistan are Clamoring for Their Own States

But what good is being a state anymore?

How to Successfully Engage North Korea On Human Rights

Despite a generally abysmal human rights record, North Korea has shown improvement in one specific area: disability rights.

Muslim Nations Are Rallying to Protect the Rohingya. What About the Rest of Us?

If only Muslims reach out to help the Rohingya, the international community will suffer another blow to its reputation.

Time to Deal With North Korea

The United States faces a new nuclear power ruled by a communist dictator.

The President Is a Ponzi Scheme

Here and abroad, Trump’s wealthy backers understand that his populist rhetoric is a masquerade.

Hurricane Donald Hits the Republican Party

If Trump succeeds in ramping up military spending and gutting everything else, we’ll be left with a bunch of nukes and an underfunded state — and no one but China to keep us afloat.

How Bush’s ‘New World Order’ Became Trump’s ‘No World Order’

Successive U.S. military interventions upended the very international system the U.S. once pledged to uphold. Now the world faces the twin challenges of ISIS and Trump.

The Racism Heard Round the World

When the neo-fascist National Front is more willing to condemn neo-Nazis than Trump, we have a problem.

If You Think North Korea Is Too Crazy for Negotiations, Think Again

Some in the Trump administration are eyeing regime change in North Korea. They’re missing what’s really going on over there.

Disarmament Shouldn’t be a Precondition for Negotiations with North Korea

It’s going to take a while for this trust-building exercise to have any kind of impact, John Feffer says on Intercepted.

Increasing Isolation Won’t Change North Korea’s Behavior

When are we going to try something different?

Trump: The Anti-Gorbachev

Like Mikhail Gorbachev, Trump helms a fading empire. But while the former Soviet leader supported democratization in his wake, Trump’s sowing the seeds of autocracy all over the globe.

What Makes a ‘Good Jew’?

Progressive Jewish groups are rising to criticize the Israeli occupation and fight fundamentalism in both Israel and the West.

Donald Trump and the Triumph of Anti-Politics

In this fairy tale from 2050, the invisible monster of climate change continues to ravage the land.

Can Trump Actually Cut (Good) Deals on Diplomacy?

From North Korea to Russia to the Middle East, there’s no shortage of deal-making needed. But beware the fine print of anything with Trump’s insignia.

How to Honor Otto Warmbier

How should the United States respond to the detention and subsequent death of an American student who visited North Korea?

Is America’s Violent Century Coming to an End?

Quite the contrary: the United States, Dower argues, may have refined its techniques, but it has done nothing to minimize the brutality.

Project Director and Associate Fellow

Epicenter, Foreign Policy in Focus

    Asia/Pacific, Military/Peace, NATO, North Korea, Northeast Asia, South Korea

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