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

Guns, Butter, and Obama

President-elect Obama faces some serious obstacles to restructuring the Pentagon — if in fact he intends to do so.

No More Axes

The U.S. economy has been crumbling for some time, and the backlog of necessary repairs is long. The same can be said for many other economies around the world, so it’s no wonder that everyone is readying their own fiscal cures.

Rivals, Partners in Asia

With the Six Party Talks to denuclearise North Korea once again on the ropes and the world reeling from a deepening financial crisis, the United States is looking to China for help.

Financial Crisis Hits Overseas Workers

As financial crisis looms, the Philippines look to overseas Filipinos to keep the country together.

Review: ‘Joschka Fischer and the Making of the Berlin Republic’

This absorbing alternative history of postwar Germany by Paul Hockenos chronicles the speedy transformation of a rock-throwing Marxist into a powerful foreign minister.

One China, 2.0?

The new Taiwanese president could substantially alter the cross-strait dynamic.

Economic Woes? Look to Kerala

The Indian state of Kerala’s alternative development model offers valuable lessons as the global economic crisis unfolds.

Green Paper Gold

Here’s an innovative way to tackle the economic crisis and global warming in one sweeping proposal.

Speak Memory

In a country still so divided, the words of the song — Imagine all the people, living life in peace — has special resonance.

War and Peace: An Epic Mural

The Vietnamese-born artist Huong has created an immense mural that depicts the horror of war and the imperative of peace.

Obama: Stand Up to the Indonesian Military

By restricting military assistance to Indonesia, President Obama can do the most for human rights in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country.

Saving Congo: Whither the EU?

The EU has an army of sorts. Maybe it should start using it for the common good.

Postcard from…Persepolis

Barack Obama could open a new chapter in U.S.-Iranian relations by visiting Iran. He wouldn’t be alone.

Bomb India?

When a group of militants wages a ruthless campaign against civilians, a government certainly must respond. But the issue is: what kind of response?

The Chinese Economy

A New York Times editorial advises China to adopt an American-style mass consumer economy that would be a recipe for economic, environmental, and probably political, disaster.

Foreign Policy for Obama Should Be Approached with a Broad Vision

Exercising too much caution, if it translates into maintaining the status quo, would be a profound mistake.

Change Nuclear Weapons Policy? Yes, We Can.

The next president can and must take immediate steps toward a nuclear weapons free world.

Not-So-Pearly Gates

Do appointments shape their office or does the office shape the appointment?

Aiming for Middle Power Status?

Political realignment in Japan is causing its leaders to rethink its relationship with the rest of the world.

Engaging Pyongyang on Human Rights

Serious economic engagement with North Korea can help improve the human rights situation in one of the bleakest parts of the globe.

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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