Best regards, Andrew Stewart
Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: December 24, 2020 at 12:03:15 PM EST > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-War]: Moreshead on Fifield, 'The Great Successor: > The Secret Rise and Rule of Kim Jong Un' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Anna Fifield. The Great Successor: The Secret Rise and Rule of Kim > Jong Un. New York Hachette Book Group, 2020. 336 pp. $17.99 > (paper), ISBN 978-1-5293-8725-4. > > Reviewed by Paul Moreshead (Air University, Air War College) > Published on H-War (December, 2020) > Commissioned by Margaret Sankey > > Kim Jong Un rules more than twenty-five million North Koreans with a > repressive and isolated methodology that often defies belief. As the > third-generation dictator of the Kim family, he continues to baffle > historians, critics, and neighbors with his survival and, by some > measures, successful rule. Despite sometimes being perceived on the > international stage as more of a caricature than legitimate stateman, > Kim remains firmly in control of an autocratic government and holds > the same near-deity status among the people of North Korea that his > father and grandfather enjoyed. > > In _The Great Successor: The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant > Comrade Kim Jong Un_, Anna Fifield weaves a captivating story of his > often surreal existence, while painting an informative and intriguing > picture of North Korean economic, military, and diplomatic policy > under Kim. Fifield's extensive research and knowledge enable her to > make a story that is sometimes reminiscent of a dystopian novel > believable in every word. Fifield is the Beijing bureau chief for > _The_ _Washington Post_. She previously covered Japan and the Koreas > for the _Post_ and was the Seoul correspondent for the _Financial > Times_. She has reported from more than twenty countries and has > visited North Korea a dozen times. She was a Nieman journalism fellow > at Harvard University, and in 2018, she received the Shorenstein > Journalism Award from Stanford University for her coverage of Asia. > The book is based on her extensive experience covering and visiting > North Korea as well as hundreds of hours interviewing diplomats, > government officials from all over the world, escapees from North > Korea, and people who know Kim. > > This book is divided into three sections. The first is devoted to the > history of the Kim regime and the secretive childhood and adolescence > of Kim Jung Un and his siblings. Fifield describes the multiple > relationships and children of Un's father, Kim Jong-Il, and some of > the reasons Un was chosen to be the successor. The stories of Un's > life in Switzerland defy belief with their normalcy when compared to > the life he lived before and since in North Korea. Un lived the quiet > life of an affluent teenager and aggressively pursued his love of > basketball. The focus on this otherwise insignificant teenage hobby > lays groundwork for understanding interactions of the Kim regime with > enigmatic American basketball star Dennis Rodman, covered in > fascinating detail later in the book. The section concludes by > describing the deliberate methods Un's father used to ensure peaceful > succession by his son. > > Part 2 is about Kim's ascension to power after his father's death and > the early years of his leadership. This is the longest and most > compelling portion of the book. Despite the memes and comedians who > have had a field day with the unlikely dictator, Fifield describes > the skillful ways that Kim, not yet thirty, consolidated power in a > society where age commands respect. While acknowledging various world > leaders and analysts who question his rationality, the book makes > clear that regime survival is the preeminent consideration in all > Kim's decisions. Further, the author helps readers understand the > sometimes perverse but very rational calculations behind his > behavior. One recurring topic of the book is Kim's management of the > delicate leadership balance between satisfying the population with > just enough quality of life improvements and instilling the necessary > fear to avoid a popular uprising. After taking power, he skillfully > allowed a level of marketization in North Korea that placates both > the kleptocrats surrounding him and the North Korean population. At > the same time, he was merciless toward those he deemed a threat, most > notably, his own brother, Kim Jong-nam, whose 2017 assassination is > described in detail. Un's success at juggling the carrot and stick is > hard to dispute and the author describes this balance in vivid > detail. > > The last section is all about North Korea's growing nuclear weapons > program and the relationship between Kim and US president Donald > Trump. Since the author established regime survival as Kim's primary > motivation, here she provides a detailed summary of the path to a > nuclear bomb and the aggressive and very personal role that Kim > played in the program. Based on Kim's awareness of the fate of > Muammar al-Gaddafi, she convincingly portrays his view of the nuclear > weapon as the only tool preventing the United States from forcing a > regime change in North Korea. Defying traditional deliberate > diplomatic process, Kim and President Trump's meetings made > compelling news without much substantive progress toward real > de-nuclearization of North Korea, according to the author. Fifield > describes how Kim successfully avoided war, improved his relationship > with President Xi Jinping of China, and won, if not the formal > lifting, at least significant lessening of the sanctions imposed on > North Korea for its nuclear weapons program. Fifield makes it clear > that Kim is quite a cunning diplomat and negotiator when it suits his > purposes. If forced to pick a winner in the Trump-Kim competition, > Fifield appears to believe it was the Korean. > > This is a book for the casual reader, a student of history, or an > experienced diplomat. For those who have professional reasons to > understand North Korea, the author's extensive experience and > research provide as detailed a description of the mysterious Kim as > any classified intelligence analysis from the Western world can > likely match. What the book does not do in any length is suppose who > or what comes after Kim. He is described in the book as "five foot, > seven inches tall, and his weight is estimated to be about 300 > pounds" (p. 256). This is not a healthy description for any person, > and it is difficult to imagine Kim ruling for many decades to come. > Regardless, this story is compelling and the subject matter > extraordinarily relevant. _The Great Successor_ is a recommended read > for anyone interested in understanding Kim and his regime. > > Citation: Paul Moreshead. Review of Fifield, Anna, _The Great > Successor: The Secret Rise and Rule of Kim Jong Un_. H-War, H-Net > Reviews. December, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55870 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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