What's new

New book by president of the Japan Policy Research Institute

Sukotto

先輩
9 Jul 2003
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Japan Policy Research Institute is a non-profit research and public affairs organization devoted to public education concerning Japan and international relations in the Pacific.

no, I'm not related to author or profit in any way....


"Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic"
is the new book



Johnson has written many books on Japan and China including
"Miti and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy, 1925-1975" 1983,
"Japan: Who Governs? : The Rise of the Developmental State" 1995,
&
"Peasant Nationalism and Communist Power: The Emergence of Revolutionary China, 1937-1945" 1962

go here for a full bio

He even worked as a civilian consultant for the CIA for a couple years.



"Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire" 2000

I read "Blowback" when it came out. Up to this point I had read some Chomsky, Zinn, Vidal. But Blowback centered on east Asia so it interested me since I was studying Japanese language at the time. Also "Chomsky" was no where to be found in the index. It was interesting to get similar ideas, albeit different from different authors. Johnson says in his intro that during Vietnam in Berkley he stayed away from the protests. Not something he was interested in. But with the fall of the Soviet empire and the end of the cold war... and US policy not changing in the far east, he wrote "Blowback". The title comes from a cia term for unintended consequences of covert operations. The title was a warning, and profitic.
Johnson considers Japan, S Korea, Taiwan to have been satellites of the US during the cold war much like Poland, E Germany, etc. were.


"The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic " 2005

Johnson talks about militarism of the US in this book. He says the US has an "empire of bases" - over 700 know/acknowledged bases and installations in over 130 different countries. He adds another 200 or so unacknowledged/secret bases that for political reasons in the host country are not revealed. He considers the recent war in Iraq to be "imperial overstreach". All empires fall, folks. Johnson fears it may be too late to save even the Republic.

Johnson had been a very mainstream type of guy before.
I do disagree with him on somethings, but I encourage our military friends based in Japan to consider checking out his recent works on US empire.



I'm waiting to get my hands on "Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic". Unless I'm on some list somewhere. Paranoid? The CIA, in Indonesia, when dictator Suharto came to power in a coup back in 65?, had lists of communists and suspected communists and sympathizers they shared with the Indonesian military. The cia then checked off names as they were killed. Even people who were suspected of having X idea in their head. The PKI (Indonesian communist party) was a 'non-revolutionary' party. That is, a party that was willing to work within the legal democratic framework.
Some guy who was a former head of the CIA, who was involved in Iran/Contra, has his son and buddies running the US currently.

Please enjoy these books
 
Interview on DemocracyNow! w/author

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/1454229

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007
Chalmers Johnson: ツ"Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic"

In his new book, CIA analyst, distinguished scholar, and best-selling author Chalmers Johnson argues that US military and economic overreach may actually lead to the nation's collapse as a constitutional republic. It's the last volume in his Blowback trilogy, following the best-selling "Blowback" and "The Sorrows of Empire." In those two, Johnson argued American clandestine and military activity has led to un-intended, but direct disaster here in the United States. [includes rush transcript]

Chalmers Johnson is a retired professor of international relations at the University of California, San Diego. He is also President of the Japan Policy Research Institute. Johnson has written for several publications including Los Angeles Times, the London Review of Books, Harper's Magazine, and The Nation. In 2005, he was featured prominently in the award-winning documentary film, ツ"Why We Fight.ツ"


Chalmers Johnson joined me yesterday from San Diego. I began by asking him about the title of his book, ツ"Nemesis.ツ"
* Chalmers Johnson, Author, scholar and leading critic of US foreign policy. Retired professor of international relations at the University of California, San Diego. He is also President of the Japan Policy Research Institute. His new book is ツ"Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic.ツ"
 
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