Scholars, advocates, and activists seeking to make the U.S. a more responsible global partner.
Asia & Pacific
Naval Base Tears Apart Korean Village

Naval Base Tears Apart Korean Village

by | Aug 19, 2011

“The land and sea isn’t something you bought,” explained Kang Ae-Shim. “Why are you selling something that was there long before you were born?” Kang Ae Shim is a haenyo, one of the legendary Korean women sea divers from Jeju Island who can hold their breath for up to two minutes while foraging the ocean floor for seafood. But today Kang and others are fighting to save their island from the pending construction of a South Korean naval base in Gangjeong village, which threatens to tear apart the age-old sisterhood of the haenyoand destroy the pristine ecology of Jeju’s shores. The government and construction contractors are attempting to stamp out the outcry by arresting, beating, fining, and threatening villagers and activists.

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Review: No Exit

Review: No Exit

by | Aug 10, 2011

North Korea is of perennial security concern to both its neighbors and the United States. In late 2010, satellite data indicated that North Korea possessed a uranium enrichment facility, and now a potential third nuclear test is underway.No Exit: North Korea, Nuclear Weapons and International Security is one of the few books to date in the English language that provides a detailed, beyond-the-Beltway account of North Korea’s history, leadership, and nuclear development. 

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Con Game

by | Aug 9, 2011

I’m sitting in Starbucks the other day eavesdropping on the conversation at the next table. A man in a suit is trying to sell something to a couple. I’m having a difficult time determining the product. But the pitch is familiar enough. By buying a large number of these items and selling them to their friends, neighbors, and colleagues, the couple will unleash their inner entrepreneur. They’ll make a modest investment and, in no time, score a lot of money. The man in the suit produces a lot of shiny, colorful pamphlets from his briefcase. He tells the couple about how much money he’s made. He tells stories of other lucky couples. He exudes confidence.

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Review: America’s Challenge

Review: America’s Challenge

by | Aug 4, 2011

The relationship between the United States and China is probably the most important current bilateral tie in the world. In his new book America’s Challenge – Engaging a Rising China in the Twenty First Century, Michael Swaine at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace interviews over 50 current and former U.S. officials in an effort to identify current problems and challenges in U.S.-China relations, evaluate policies adopted by the U.S. government, and propose ways to improve the relationship.

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Korean Americans and Allies to Participate in “From War to Peace in East Asia,” Events on Korean War

by | Jul 25, 2011

On July 27, 2011 scholars from the Institute for Policy Studies, South Korea, and the Washington Peace Center will hold a special discussion on the status of the Korean War Armistice and why a peace treaty to end the Korean War matters today in the context of the current military issues facing East Asia and the overall need for peacebuilding in this region.

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Third Prize: You’re Fired

by | Jul 19, 2011

In the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, Alec Baldwin walks into the office of underperforming salesmen and shakes them to their core. He’s the guy from the head office, and his motivational speech has a whiff of sulfur to it. The top prize for sales that month, he announces, will be a new Cadillac. The second prize: a set of steak knives. As for the third prize, he informs them with a certain twinkling malice, “You’re fired.”  One of the salesmen in the audience, Ed Harris, leans back in his chair — he’s not buying it. Baldwin takes off his watch, puts it on Harris’s desk, and says that it costs more than the Hyundai that Harris drove to work. “I made $970,000 last year,” Baldwin practically spits at him. “That’s who I am. And you’re nothing.”

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China Eclipsing U.S. in Global Reach, Poll Finds

by | Jul 19, 2011

And the United States is seen more favourably by the global publics than China, according to the survey. Despite declines in the U.S. image in many countries over the past year, the median percentage that offered an overall favourable assessment of the U.S. was 60 percent, eight points higher than China’s percentage rating. 

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