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

REPORT: Sending Arms or Twisting Arms: The U.S. Role in the Ukraine War

This backgrounder explores the causes of the war in Ukraine and the actions of different actors in the conflict to date.

The Persistent Allure of Military Coups

Sudan is in yet another civil war. Can it put military rule behind it once and for all?

Donald Trump and America’s Democratic Reputation

Trump attacked democracy. Will democracy fight back?

Colombia Adopts an Unprecedented Energy Policy—but Needs Help to Pull It Off

Will the world, and particularly the United States, now lend a hand to Colombia to pull it out of its economic hole?

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Ukraine is fighting against two evils simultaneously: the reality of Putin and the possibility of nuclear war.

Ukraine and the Lessons of the Iraq War

The call of the peace movement 20 years ago–invading troops out!–should be the call of the peace movement today.

Free Trade or Just Green Trade?

Corporations are using trade and investment treaties to handcuff global and national efforts to save the planet.

Ukraine’s Future: Like Korea or Yugoslavia?

Will the war turn into a stalemate or the crushing defeat of an imperial power?

Can the World Save the World?

The international community has so far failed to made a dent in the climate crisis. Is the problem all about governance?

Spying vs. Spying

The United States and China should be putting their surveillance capabilities to better use.

Battling a Mining Goliath on Two Continents

Environmental activists have made some important strides in confronting the Australian mining company Lynas.

Maybe the World Isn’t Falling Apart

There are several reasons to be optimistic, from repairing the ozone layer to combating COVID.

Israel’s Strange Ambivalence on Ukraine

So much for conspiracy theories about Jews controlling the world. We can’t even get together to control the outcome of the war in Ukraine.

From the Unsustainable Here to the Sustainable There

Economic growth is killing the planet. How do we engineer an alternative?

The Rise of Self-Hating Politicians

House Republicans, Euroskeptics, Vladimir Putin, and Jair Bolsonaro are the agents of a new kind of political disorder that parallels the chaos of failing states, economic catastrophe, and climate disasters.

The Future of Korean Democracy

Korea faces the same democratic deficits as other countries–polarized opinion, rising populism, pervasive fake news–just when it needs responsive democracy the most.

The Far Right is Crazy–Like a Fox

Forget the deplorables and focus instead on the persuadables.

The Crypto-Populist Pyramid Scam

Here’s how to connect Donald Trump and Nayib Bukele to Sam Bankman-Fried and Bored Ape Yacht Club.

Changing My Mind on Ukraine

Bosnia did not get the support it needed 30 years ago to defend itself. Today it is barely a state, and that’s the fate that Ukraine needs to avoid.

What Climate Debt Does the North Owe the South?

Richer countries haven’t met their $100 billion promise to help poorer countries move beyond fossil fuels. Where’s the money going to come from?

Project Director and Associate Fellow

Epicenter, Foreign Policy in Focus

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

    UpFront: Russia’s War in Ukraine

    KPFA | January 29, 2024

    Talkies

    KPFA | January 19, 2024

    Tensions High Over Russia’s War in Ukraine

    The Greenfield (MA) Recorder, The Tulsa (OK) World | October 23, 2023

    UpFront

    KPFA | October 2, 2023

    UpFront

    KPFA | September 18, 2023

    Technics and Civilization: Lithium and Society

    Korean IT Times | September 7, 2023

    More...