Articles by John Feffer – Foreign Policy In Focus

We found 14 results.


North Korea: The Cyberwar of All against All
John Feffer – Foreign Policy In Focus, 20 Mar 2017

They hack us. We hack them. It’s a recipe for catastrophe. The U.S. pioneered this kind of warfare when it inserted malware into the Iranian nuclear complex that destroyed centrifuges and set back the program. The latest revelations of cyberware involve North Korea. At least some of the many mishaps and failures associated with their missile program were the result of a secret U.S. program to thwart launches through electronic means.

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YOLO Economics
John Feffer – Foreign Policy In Focus, 19 Sep 2016

“Sustainable growth” just won’t cut it. We have to come up with something that redefines growth, emphasizes the importance of equity and dignity, and ensures that innovation works for us all. In the end, coming up with this new economic model should be on everyone’s bucket list.

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The Music of Hopelessness
John Feffer – Foreign Policy In Focus, 30 May 2016

From the comfortable alt-rock of PJ Harvey to the hypnotic antagonism of Anohni, new protest music offers a relief from the official rhythms of war and peace.

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Africa’s Success Story
John Feffer – Foreign Policy In Focus, 18 Jan 2016

Diamond-rich Botswana avoided the dreaded resource curse and established a prosperous, stable democracy. But political turmoil has begun to roil the traditionally placid society.

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Mouth Wide Shut
John Feffer – Foreign Policy In Focus, 12 Oct 2015

Under Obama, whistleblowers face a total of 751 months behind bars — compared to 24 months for all other whistleblowers combined since the American Revolution.

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The Middle East’s New Nakba
John Feffer – Foreign Policy In Focus, 5 Oct 2015

The chain of events set into motion by the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq is reaching its logical conclusion — the disintegration of multi-ethnic states and a great expulsion of innocents. Nationalist forces have squared off against religious extremists over not only who controls the states, but the very nature of the state institutions.

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Celebrating Destruction
John Feffer – Foreign Policy In Focus, 18 May 2015

Our wartime commemorations are the functional equivalent of mounting the heads of our victims on pikes. Are we surprised that others celebrate bloodshed when we do the same?

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Women’s Delegation to Cross DMZ between Koreas
John Feffer – Foreign Policy In Focus, 27 Apr 2015

For what it’s worth, I think a peace march by women across the DMZ is a splendid idea. We need symbolic acts that capture the world’s attention and help shift all the major players in the direction of negotiations. It’s mostly men – men from politics, men from business, men on both sides of the DMZ – who have been dealing with the Korean peninsula issue over the years. And we men haven’t achieved very much.

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Comparing Atrocities
John Feffer – Foreign Policy In Focus, 9 Mar 2015

It’s tempting to call ISIS “medieval” murderers. But from mass murder to drone strikes, atrocity is very much a part of our modern experience. The description of the death of Robert-Francois Damiens, the man who attempted to kill Louis XV, is not for the faint-hearted.

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Conflict Resolution and German Reunification
John Feffer – Foreign Policy In Focus, 20 Oct 2014

East and West Germany were like a couple that had rushed into marriage with very little understanding of what it would be like to live together.

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Ukraine: Out of the Frying Pan
John Feffer – Foreign Policy In Focus, 3 Mar 2014

In the end, the street triumphed over the elite. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych tried to hang on to power, and failed. Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to maintain Russian influence, and failed. The EU tried to mediate, and failed. And the United States tried to…well, I’ll get to that in a moment.

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Gypsies-Roma: The Greatest Threat to Europe
John Feffer – Foreign Policy In Focus, 17 Feb 2014

Europe will never fully democratize until the Roma enjoy the same rights, privileges, and opportunities as their European brethren.

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Droning On
John Feffer – Foreign Policy in Focus, 28 Nov 2011

What’s happening today in Pakistan is beyond the law. It’s not even subject to the rules of war. The drone wars are conducted by the CIA. The spy agency doesn’t need to abide by the Geneva Conventions or acquire congressional approval for its actions. “The U.S. government simply cannot arrogate the right to wage an endless, global war against anyone it deems a threat to national security,” writes Paul Miller. “The prospect of such a war should trouble anyone who has the least acquaintance with history or political philosophy.” Miller was responsible for Afghanistan policy on the National Security council from 2007 to 2009. We thought that we would always be the hand on the joystick. But even in video games, tables turn, and the hunter becomes the hunted.

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After Osama: China?
John Feffer – Foreign Policy in Focus, 16 May 2011

But perhaps the only country in the world that has benefited from the last decade of war against al-Qaeda is China, and it has benefitted big time. Beijing has watched the United States spend more than $3 trillion on the war on terrorism, devote its military resources to the Middle East, and neglect pretty much every other part of the globe (except where al-Qaeda and its friends hang out). The United States is now mired in debt, stuck in a recession, and paralyzed by partisan politics.

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