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商品の説明
内容説明
The definitive account of North Korea, its veiled past and uncertain future, from the former Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council
Though it is much discussed and often maligned, precious little is known or understood about North Korea, the world's most controversial and isolated country. In The Impossible State, seasoned international-policy expert and lauded scholar Victor Cha pulls back the curtain, providing the best look yet at North Korea's history, the rise of the Kim family dynasty, and the obsessive personality cult that empowers them. He illuminates the repressive regime's complex economy and culture, its appalling record of human-rights abuses, and its belligerent relationship with the United States, and analyzes the regime's major security issues—from the seemingly endless war with its southern neighbor to its frightening nuclear ambitions—all in light of the destabilizing effects of Kim Jong-il's recent death.
How this enigmatic nation-state—one that regularly violates its own citizens' inalienable rights and has suffered famine, global economic sanctions, a collapsed economy, and near total isolation from the rest of the world—has continued to survive has long been a question that preoccupies the West. Cha reveals a land of contradictions, one facing a pivotal and disquieting transition of power from tyrannical father to inexperienced son, and delves into the ideology that leads an oppressed, starving populace to cling so fiercely to its failed leadership.
With rare personal anecdotes from the author's time in Pyongyang and his tenure as an adviser in the White House, this engagingly written, authoritative, and highly accessible history offers much-needed answers to the most pressing questions about North Korea and ultimately warns of a regime that might be closer to its end than many might think—a political collapse for which America and its allies may be woefully unprepared.
著者について
Victor Cha is the former Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council, where he served as an adviser to the president from 2004 to 2007. The recipient of two Outstanding Service Commendations during his tenure at the White House, Cha is also the award-winning author of Alignment Despite Antagonism: The United States-Korea-Japan Security Triangle and Beyond the Final Score: The Politics of Sport in Asia. His writing has appeared in Foreign Affairs, International Security, and Political Science Quarterly, among other journals. Cha currently holds the D. S. Song Chair in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and is a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
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カスタマーレビュー
Amazon.com で最も参考になったカスタマーレビュー (beta)
Amazon.com:
6件のカスタマーレビュー
20 人中、20人の方が、｢このレビューが参考になった｣と投票しています。
Excellent
2012/4/8
形式:ハードカバー|Amazonが確認した購入
Timely and important book. If you are interested in North Korea, or want to know more about North Korea, buy and read this book today. Victor Cha writes well, and the prose is lean and sparkling, and free of academic jargon. Cha, an academic who teaches at Georgetown, joined the Bush administration and worked at the NSC during the Bush Administration. Cha gives concise historial background necessary to understand what is going on today. Sprinkled throughout are Cha's reflection of his own experience of working on North Korean affairs at the NSC, as well as his visits to North and South Korea (There are some surprising insights offered re President Bush). Cha's tone is measured. This book is suitable for the general reader who know nothing about Korea (other than CNN news bulletins), as well as those who have been following North Korea, but want to know more. This book is far superior to anything on North Korea written by Bruce Cumings. Time required to finish the book: 25 hours or 6 reading sessions.
1 人中、1人の方が、｢このレビューが参考になった｣と投票しています。
A Great Primer On North Korea's Past, Present, and Future
2012/5/29
形式:ハードカバー
"The Impossible State" is a welcome addition to the canon of books on post-WWII Korea because it hues to a middle ground among specialized dissertations on topics such as the North's human rights situation, its propoganda, the recent famine, its political history, the nuclear issue, and its leaders. This book provides an astute and highly readable dissection of the country, how it came to be, how the Kims have cultivated and maintained their grip on power, and what the future portends for a regime whose mere existence in today's world is an affront to every notion of morality, modernity, and human dignity.
In the end, the book's most compelling conclusion is not that the regime's implosion is imminent (as there is general agreement that the question of the country's ultimate fate is not one of fact, but merely timing), but that a bifurcated Korea today serves as a living example of the consequences of political choices imposed on a people. Communism as an ideology may have been proven bankrupt, but its most grotesque manifestation, in the form of North Korea, refuses to surrender to the judgment of history.
The dubious and unwanted benefit of the regime's continued existence is that it serves as a living rebuke to the notion that a political system that subsumes the dignity and aspirations of the individual to the collective (i.e., the state) can ever be legitimate. How galling to consider the tens of millions that had to die in the last century - and continue to die in this one - to affirm what the American Founders deemed self-evident over 230 years ago: that a government which doesn't recognize and preserve its citizens' right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness can never be worthy of them.
In the end, the book's most compelling conclusion is not that the regime's implosion is imminent (as there is general agreement that the question of the country's ultimate fate is not one of fact, but merely timing), but that a bifurcated Korea today serves as a living example of the consequences of political choices imposed on a people. Communism as an ideology may have been proven bankrupt, but its most grotesque manifestation, in the form of North Korea, refuses to surrender to the judgment of history.
The dubious and unwanted benefit of the regime's continued existence is that it serves as a living rebuke to the notion that a political system that subsumes the dignity and aspirations of the individual to the collective (i.e., the state) can ever be legitimate. How galling to consider the tens of millions that had to die in the last century - and continue to die in this one - to affirm what the American Founders deemed self-evident over 230 years ago: that a government which doesn't recognize and preserve its citizens' right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness can never be worthy of them.
1 人中、1人の方が、｢このレビューが参考になった｣と投票しています。
Realistic view of North Korea
2012/5/29
形式:Kindle版
Before reading the book I had never heard of the author and have no reason to be biased.
If I could only read two recent books on this subject, I would choose this one and Barbara Demick's Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. Mr. Cha's book is excellent from a foreign policy and historical standpoint, giving an unbiased history of the regime, its neighbors, and attempts to engage North Korea's leaders in dialogue. At the end Mr. Cha summarizes his gut feelings about what the regime really wants, and exposes its vulnerabilities. While his conclusions are rather grim, I think they are realistic, unlike the writings of newspaper and television pundits that we are exposed to every day. Some things I particularly liked were:
-- his observations from interactions with North Korean diplomats, sometimes when they (not the writer) were under influence of alcohol
-- his description of the mistakes made by Kim #2
-- his analysis of China's stance, how and why it continues to accommodate the Kim Dynasty.
-- his (too lengthy) descriptions of American attempts to negotiate, and the way he shows that all recent administrations have tried to engage North Korea
-- his appreciation of the ideological basis of the regime's rule (read Barbara Demick to get more info about motivations)
-- the writer did not neglect human rights issues.
The lay reader will want to skim some sections because the writer has actually included too much information. However the main value of the book is that the writer has information both from reading and from direct experience, his analysis is professional, and has a good feel for the country and its people.
I recommend this book. It is both interesting and informative.
If I could only read two recent books on this subject, I would choose this one and Barbara Demick's Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. Mr. Cha's book is excellent from a foreign policy and historical standpoint, giving an unbiased history of the regime, its neighbors, and attempts to engage North Korea's leaders in dialogue. At the end Mr. Cha summarizes his gut feelings about what the regime really wants, and exposes its vulnerabilities. While his conclusions are rather grim, I think they are realistic, unlike the writings of newspaper and television pundits that we are exposed to every day. Some things I particularly liked were:
-- his observations from interactions with North Korean diplomats, sometimes when they (not the writer) were under influence of alcohol
-- his description of the mistakes made by Kim #2
-- his analysis of China's stance, how and why it continues to accommodate the Kim Dynasty.
-- his (too lengthy) descriptions of American attempts to negotiate, and the way he shows that all recent administrations have tried to engage North Korea
-- his appreciation of the ideological basis of the regime's rule (read Barbara Demick to get more info about motivations)
-- the writer did not neglect human rights issues.
The lay reader will want to skim some sections because the writer has actually included too much information. However the main value of the book is that the writer has information both from reading and from direct experience, his analysis is professional, and has a good feel for the country and its people.
I recommend this book. It is both interesting and informative.
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