I know Korea is not the current topic, but still lots of important struggles are going on there. So, I hope Penners do not mind me sharing the news of the recent publication of my new book on Korea. The title is Korea: Division, Reunification, & U.S. Foreign Policy. It is published by Monthly Review Press. (Back cover blurb and contents listed below.) It can be ordered by calling Monthly Review Press at 1-800-670-9499 Readers and reviewers very welcome. Martin Hart-Landsberg FROM THE BACK COVER: A perfect introduction to the causes and consequences of the Korean War, this readable, fast-paced history challenges all of the presumptions about Korea favored by American politicians and network news pundits. Through a judicious survey of the historical record, Martin Hart-Landsberg demonstrates that the basic aim of U.S. foreign policy in Korea from the outset has been regional control--not democracy, despite Washington's claims. Reconstructing the long pattern of Korean struggles for national unity and independence from foreign domination, Hart-Landsberg shows that the division of the country into hostile states after the Second World War produced an "imaginary line" contrary to the interests and desires of a majority of Koreans. Taking matters up to the present with a comprehensive examination of the post-war history of North and South Korea, Hart-Landsberg shows how Cold War foreign policy and division undermined valuable efforts at social change on both sides of the 38th parallel. Reunification, concludes Hart-Landsberg, is the optimal solution for Korea, so long as it transpires on a democratic and egalitarian basis, with participation by popular social movements. CONTENTS: Acknowledgments Introduction PART I: EMPIRE AND RESISTANCE Chapter 1. The United States and Korea Bridging the Pacific: Historical Origins of Empire The Japanese Challenge to U.S. Interests U.S. Hegemony and Korea Chapter 2. The Korean Struggle for Independence and Democracy Foreign Intervention and the Decline of the Choson Dynasty Korea Under Japanese Rule Korean Resistance The Rise of the Left Liberation PART II: DIVISION AND WAR Chapter 3. Occupation and Division The South Under U.S. Occupation The North Under Soviet Occupation U.S.-Soviet Negotiations and the Division of Korea The Road to Civil War Chapter 4. U.S. Foreign Policy and Korea, 1945-50 Confining Soviet Influence Constructing the Global Capitalist Economy Restructuring Germany Restructuring Japan Chapter 5. The Korean War The Beginning of the War Establishing Responsibility The Nature of the War: Phase I The Nature of the War: Phase II The Nature of the War: Phase III The Geneva Conference PART III: FROM DIVISION TO REUNIFICATION Chapter 6. Divided Korea: The North Korean Experience Kim Il Sung and the Evolution of North Korean Socialism The North Korean Economic Miracle The End of the Economic Miracle Economic Initiatives U.S. Policy Toward North Korea The Distorted Nature of North Korean Socialism Chapter 7. Divided Korea: The South Korean Experience The Road to Military Dictatorship Military Dictatorship and the Economic Miracle Growth and Its Contradictions, 1961-1979 The Restoration of the South Korean Growth Model Growth and Its Contradictions, 1980-1992 The Resurgence of the Left South Korea at the Crossroads Chapter 8. The Challenge and Promise of Reunification The German Reunification Experience The Economic and Social Costs of German Reunification The Evolution of South Korean Reunification Policy Pursuing Reunification by Absorption South Korean Economic Policy Toward the North South Korean Policy Toward Japanese-North Korean Relations South Korean Policy Toward U.S.-North Korean Relations An Alternative Approach to Reunification Notes Index
