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

Okinawa and Obama’s Base-Based Addiction

Japanese PM Hatoyama tries to sell Okinawa on a modified base relocation plan.

Terrorism in a Teacup?

The Times Square bomber showed that the anger over U.S. foreign policy isn’t just “over there.”

An Arms Race for Northeast Asia?

In the early 1990s, in the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse, the world was anticipating a “peace dividend” from the end of the cold war. In one part of the world, however, military spending was not slowing down.

China’s Military Spending: Soft Rise or Hard Threat?

Interpreting China’s military expenditure has been a complicated issue with important regional implications. Although China publishes its official defense budget and provides justifications for increases in its military spending, most observers remain skeptical of the accuracy of the official figures and wary of the military modernization efforts. This skepticism has shaped the responses of other Asia-Pacific nations toward China’s military modernization.

The Israeli Exception

People are starting to wonder: Why should Israel get special treatment?

Starting Where North Korea Is

A new approach needs to be taken if we’re going to achieve progress in Northeast Asia.

Allied Regime Change

Washington’s plans to open a base in Okinawa is good news for nobody.

Okinawa v. Obama

Russia Today interviews John Feffer on the Okinawa bases issue.

Environmental Protection of Bases?

The new marine protection area in the Indian Ocean seems like a great step forward. Until you look at it a little more carefully.

Nuclear Follies

Are we in the process of giving up our nuclear addiction, or is this just flimflam from an addict who refuses to go cold turkey?

The Really Really Long War

Intolerance and bigotry lie at the root of Islamophobia — that and a thousand years of protracted conflict and bloodshed.

Seismic Inequality

Why Chile fared better than Haiti after earthquakes struck both countries.

Blood Sport

The Washington game is getting rougher and uglier.

Earthquake Olympics

Democracy, market forces, and religious apostasy aren’t determining factors in the scores Chile and Haiti notched in this grim competition.

Velvet Imperialists

The Obama administration is hearing, but not listening, when it comes to U.S. military bases.

Why Our Taliban’s Gaining Traction

The far-right wing in the Netherlands is just as intolerant and narrow-minded and xenophobic as the radical Islamists.

Music is Still the Weapon

Hope isn’t lost for those who believe that art can transform our world.

Time-Lapse Foreign Policy

There are some aspects of our tech-powered reality where we should be pressing “pause” instead of “fast-forward.”

Can Japan Say No to Washington?

In a dispute over one insignificant base on the Japanese island of Okinawa, are we feeling early rumblings on the Asian faultline of American global power?

Choco Pies vs. Cold Noodles

Maybe the secret to reunification in the Korean peninsula is winning over hearts and stomachs.

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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