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

GWOT’s End?

Even if Obama holds to his word on torture, closes Guantánamo within the year, applies the same yardstick to detainees at Bagram and in Iraq, and eliminates the Clinton-era policy on extraordinary rendition, the death of the “global war on terror,” as Mark Twain once said of his own prematurely published obituary, is greatly exaggerated.

Bush, Obama, and the ‘Freedom Agenda’

President Obama is poised to continue the Bush administration’s “freedom agenda.” And that means scaled-up counter-insurgency.

Is Mitchell Up to the Task?

Will George Mitchell break the deadlock in the Middle East or just support the status quo?

Postcard From…Banja Luka

A young Bosnian veteran makes art, not war.

Repudiate the Carter Doctrine

President Obama can make the Iraq War the last time U.S. soldiers shed blood for oil.

Inaugural Mulligan

Let’s pretend that we’ve simply gotten off on the wrong foot with this century.

From Arms to Art

Let’s devote 1% of the stimulus package to the arts. And let’s go global with it.

Bush’s Path from ‘Humility’ to ‘Bring it On’

George W. Bush entered the White House in 2001 with the least foreign policy experience and the most modest foreign policy program of any modern U.S. president.

Israel and the United States: Up In Arms

Through its arms deals, the United States has influence over Israel. Columnist Frida Berrigan asks whether President-elect Obama will use that influence to stop the war in Gaza.

Lame Legacy

As Bush’s days in office wind down, the ultimate lame duck and his circle of sycophants begin to look towards securing his legacy.

Japan: The Price of Normalcy

Cute cartoon characters belie growing militarism in Japan.

Obama and Israel

Obama should act now to change the U.S.-Israel relationship — while Gaza is still burning and before it’s time to campaign for reelection.

Israel: Mini-Me?

Zionist ideology — the notion that redemption comes through the settlement of land — is powerful. It’s the heart of the settler state’s mythology, in Israel as in the United States.

Pakistan and the Islamist Challenge

Pakistan’s failure to confront Islamic militants is a threat to itself, its neighbors, and the world.

Why Bush Was Good for Foreign Policy (Satirists)

Say goodbye to eight years of rich material.

Gaza Attacks: Murder with Impunity

Israel’s bombardment of Gaza at the weekend has nothing to do with self-defense.

Detractors of Hillary

When it comes to foreign policy Barack Obama seems so very 20th century.

The Coming Capitalist Consensus

Economic and political elites are converging on Global Social Democracy as a solution to the current economic crisis. Columnist Walden Bello offers a timely critique of this new consensus.

Thailand: The Certainty of Uncertainty

After a coup two years ago and multiple protests since, Thailand has a new prime minister. But don’t expect stability for the near future.

Feinstein: Bad Choice for Intelligence

Ignoring the pleas of those calling for a more credible figure, Senate Democrats have instead chosen Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to lead the Senate Committee on Intelligence.

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...