[KS] Far Eastern Economic Review, R.I.P: The final issue recaptures some past glories

[Afostercarter at aol.com]

Dear friends and  colleagues, 
The Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER), born in 1946, has just published 
its final issue. Its passing should  not go unremarked among Koreanists; 
especially since this swansong marks a fine  return to form, by what was once an 
indispensable weekly news journal of record  for our entire region. 
The sad  tale of FEER’s decline and fall in recent years has been oft 
rehearsed. See  eg: 
_http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14505491_ 
(http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14505491)  
_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_Eastern_Economic_Review_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_Eastern_Economic_Review)  
Nor can  it be told neutrally. Seen from this side of the pond, the rot set 
in when Dow  Jones supplanted the editorial team - a mix of Asians and 
Brits long resident in  Asia - with brash right-wing Americans new to the 
region, forcing the  idiosyncratic FEER to march in step with the Asian Wall 
Street Journal. But to  put it thus may seem British bias. (Le Carré and Graham 
Greene tend to hover  over such transatlantic spats...) 
Harder  to forgive was Dow Jones’ brutal sacking of FEER’s entire staff in 
2004.  Thereafter it limped on as a monthly: comment rather than news, and 
of uneven  quality. Now Rupert Murdoch has killed off even this cheap 
epigone, which he  could surely afford to keep going if he cared to. 
To be  fair to Dow Jones, they did create a digital archive of the full run 
of  FEER: hitherto available to subscribers only. What will happen to that 
now? I hope AAS  et al will urge preservation of this unique resource, on an 
open access basis –  or perhaps offer to take over hosting of it? 
(I  declare an interest. FEER sponsored my first trip to North Korea in 
1986,  offering a 10,000 word cover story plus several more articles in later 
issues.  Who today would be so generous to an untried writer? I suppose 
nowadays you’d  blog; but who reads you? And who pays?) 
In  South Korea, FEER’s longtime correspondent was the redoubtable Shim Jae 
Hoon,  who had his share of run-ins with the former military dictatorships: 
another  noble FEER tradition. (Singapore's thin-skinned rulers are still 
suing the  FEER for the umpteenth time, even on its death-bed! See: 
_www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2148&Itemid=164_ 
(http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2148&Itemi
d=164)  ) 
Anyway,  this final issue has much to interest Koreanists. I append the 
contents list  below. This I can’t find on feer.com as such, but 
_http://feer.com/essays_ (http://feer.com/essays)  and _http://feer.com/reviews_ 
(http://feer.com/reviews)  seem to have most if not all of it.  
Moreover, loth though I am to trust Murdoch, it all seems  now to be free 
access.  
(If I  am wrong please let me know, and I can post the choicer pieces in  
full.) 
Specifically, may I recommend the  following: 
1. For  the postcolonially minded, Bruce Gilley’s “elegy” is fascinating 
and  provocative: 
_http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/december51/elegy-for-a-colonial-perspective
_ 
(http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/december51/elegy-for-a-colonial-perspective)  
2. Joe  Studwell’s essay, while mainly on the Chinese economy, has much to 
say about  South Korea’s development model and related issues. His book 
should be  interesting:  
_http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/december51/nurturing-the-chinese-economy_ 
(http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/december51/nurturing-the-chinese-economy)  
3.  Andrei Lankov reviews Brian Myers’ new book on the DPRK’s internal  
worldview: 
_http://feer.com/reviews/2009/december51/the-cleanest-race-how-north-koreans
-see-themselves-and-why-it-matters_ 
(http://feer.com/reviews/2009/december51/the-cleanest-race-how-north-koreans-see-themselves-and-why-it-matters)  
Enjoy!  And shed a tear. 
Best  wishes 
Aidan 
Aidan  Foster-Carter 
Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Sociology & Modern Korea, Leeds  
University, UK  
Flat 1, 40 Magdalen Road, Exeter, Devon, EX2 4TE,  England, UK 
T: (+44, no 0)    07970 741307 (mobile);   01392 257753       Skype: 
Aidan.Foster.Carter 
E: _afostercarter at aol.com_ (mailto:afostercarter at aol.com) ,     
_afostercarter at yahoo.com_ (mailto:afostercarter at yahoo.com)             W: 
_www.aidanfc.net_ (http://www.aidanfc.net/)  
Merry Christmas, and here's hoping (malgré  tout) 
for a  peaceful, healthy and prosperous New Year! 


     
 (http://www.feer.com/) The December Issue of FEER 2009  
　  　     
　         
Dear Reader, 
Welcome to the final issue of  the Far Eastern Economic Review. 
This month you can  enjoy free access to Bruce Gilley's "Elegy for a 
Colonial  Perspective." Please note that all REVIEW subscribers can  access all 
articles for free. 
Sincerely, 
Christine Brendle
Managing  Director 
　   
  
Free access to this  article: 
Bruce Gilley's "Elegy for a Colonial  Perspective" 
[ _read this  article_ 
(http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/december51/elegy-for-a-colonial-perspective)   ] 
 
____________________________________
　  
　 
ESSAYS 
Asia's Rise
Elegy  for a Colonial Perspective
Bruce Gilley, a former contributing editor at  the REVIEW, bemoans the end 
of an era in Asia when the region’s  elites shared a common set of values 
and aspirations. 
[  _read this  article_ 
(http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/december51/elegy-for-a-colonial-perspective)  ]

Development
Nurturing the Chinese  Economy
Joe Studwell, a British free-lance journalist,  analyzes how China’s 
economic development model draws on those of  Northeast and Southeast Asia, but 
the risky elements are  growing.
[ _read this  article_ 
(http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/december51/nurturing-the-chinese-economy)  ]

Thailand
Thaksin's  Deal with the Khmer 'Enemy'
Pasuk Phongpaichit  and  Chris  Baker,  Bangkok-based  authors, and Bertil 
Lintner, a freelance writer based in Thailand,  survey recent developments 
in Thai-Khmer  relations.
[ _read this  article_ 
(http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/december51/thaksins-cambodian-gambit)  ]  [  _read this  article_ 
(http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/december51/no-love-lost-among-khmers-and-thais)  ]  

Demographics
China's  Family Planning Gone Awry
Nicholas Eberstadt, of the  American Enterprise Institute, contends that 
China’s “One Child  Policy” is starting to have serious negative consequences 
for the  economy.  
[ _read this  article_ 
(http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/december51/chinas-family-planning-goes-awry)  ] 

Singapore
Human  Rights, Singaporean Style
Garry Rodan, director of the  Asia Research Centre and professor at Murdoch 
University, examines  the obstacles standing in the way of human rights 
progress for  Singapore.
[ _read this  article_ 
(http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/december51/human-rights-singaporean-style)  ] 

Indonesia
Bullets to  Ballots: Aceh in 2009
Ben Hillman, an advisor on  elections and local governance in Indonesia, 
cautiously judges  Aceh’s elections a success, although the jury is still out 
on the  local political parties.
[  _read this article_ 
(http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/december51/bullets-to-ballots-aceh-in-2009)  ]   
Censorship
Why China's Charm Offensive Will  Stall
David Bandurski, a free-lance journalist, argues  that China won’t be able 
to counter the West’s “monopoly” on news  until the government ditches its 
own monopoly on news.
[  _read this  article_ 
(http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/december51/why-chinas-charm-offensive-will-stall)  ] 

Diplomacy
China in Obama's World
Dan  Blumenthal, resident fellow in Asian Studies at the  American 
Enterprise Institute, asserts the Obama administration’s  emphasis on engagement 
means abdicating leadership.
[  _read this  article_ 
(http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/december51/china-in-obamas-world)  ]  Human Rights
The Fate  of China's Rights Lawyers
Jerome Cohen and Eva Pils, law  professors at New York University and the 
Chinese  University of Hong Kong, respectively, sum up the last five years of 
 little progress on legal reform.
[  _read this  article_ 
(http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/december51/the-fate-of-chinas-rights-lawyers)  ] 

Human Rights
The  Limits of the Party's Adaptation
Nicholas Bequelin, a  senior Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, 
examines the question  of whether Beijing can stay one step ahead of social demands 
before  they lead to unrest.
[ _read this  article_ 
(http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/december51/the-limits-of-the-partys-adaptation)   ] 

Authoritarianism
Pressure Builds on Beijing
Jonathan Fenby,  author of  The Penguin History of Modern China, believes 
that the  Communist Party’s control fetish is rapidly running up against  
citizens’ rising expectations.
[  _read this  article_ (http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/december51/fenby)  
 ]

Education
Realities of Education Reform in  China
Jiang Xueqin, deputy principal of Shenzhen  middle school, recounts his 
experience of the battle against  corruption and the culture of cramming for 
tests in China’s  secondary schools.
[  _read this  article_ 
(http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/december51/realities-of-education-reform-in-china)  ]    
Land  Reform
Land Reform Lessons for Asia's Giants
Roy Prosterman,  president of the Rural Development Institute in Seattle,  
Washington, traces the lessons from Asia’s past land reforms for  India and 
China.
[ _read this  article_ 
(http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/december51/land-reform-lessons-for-asias-giants)   ]  

Rule of  Law
The Japanese Human Rights Paradox
Colin P.A.  Jones, a  professor at Doshisha University Law School, 
questions why Tokyo is  unable to reverse its dismal human-rights  record.
[ _read this  article_ 
(http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/december51/the-paradox-of-japans-human-rights)   ]  
REVIEWS 
Superfusion: How China  and America became one economy and why the world's 
prosperity  depends on it 
by Zachary  Karabel
Reviewed by Denis  McMahon, a reporter with The Wall Street Journal, based 
in  Beijing.
[ _read this  review_ 
(http://www.feer.com/reviews/2009/december51/superfusion-how-china-and-ame
rica-became-one-economy-and-why-the-worlds-prosperity-depends-on-it)  ]

The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans see  themselves—and why it matters
by Bryan Myers
Reviewed  by Andrei Lankov, author of numerous books on North  Korean 
history and society, is teaching history in Kookmin  University, South Korea. 
[ _read this  review_ 
(http://www.feer.com/reviews/2009/december51/the-cleanest-race-how-north-koreans-see-themselves-and-why-it-matters)  ] 

A Shadow Falls: In the heart of  Java
by Andrew Beatty
Reviewed by Sadanand  Dhume, a Washington, D.C. and New Delhi-based writer 
and  the author of My Friend the Fanatic: Travels with a Radical  Islamist 
(Text Publishing, 2008).
[  _read this  review_ 
(http://www.feer.com/reviews/2009/december51/a-shadow-falls-in-the-heart-of-java)  ] 

Japan's  Remilitarisation
by Christopher W. Hughes
Reviewed  by Martin Laflamme, a Canadian foreign-service  officer who 
served in Japan and Afghanistan.
[  _read this  review_ 
(http://www.feer.com/reviews/2009/december51/japans-remilitarisation)  ]   
China's African  Challenges
by Sarah Raine
Reviewed by  Jonathan Mirsky, a London-based free-lance writer  and a 
former East Asia editor of the Times. 
[  _read this  review_ 
(http://www.feer.com/reviews/2009/december51/chinas-african-challenges)   ]  Challenges to Demoracy  in India
Edited by Rajesh M. Basrur 
Reviewed  by Abheek Bhattacharya, a Bombay-based assistant  editor of the 
Views pages at Mint.
[  _read this  review_ 
(http://www.feer.com/reviews/2009/december51/challenges-to-democracy-in-india)  ]

The Last Empress: Madame Chiang Kai-Shek  and the birth of modern China
by Hannah  Pakula
Reviewed by Robert Green, who covers  Taiwanese politics for the Economist 
Intelligence Unit.
[  _read this  review_ 
(http://www.feer.com/reviews/2009/december51/the-last-empress-madame-chiang-kai-shek-and-the-birth-of-modern-china)  ] 

Ancestors: The story of  China told through the lives of an extraordinary  
family
by Frank Ching
Reviewed by Steve  Tsang, the Louis Cha fellow in modern Chinese studies at 
 St. Antony’s College, Oxford and head of Oxford University’s Taiwan  
Studies Program. 
[ _read this  review_ 
(http://www.feer.com/reviews/2009/december51/ancestors-the-story-of-china-told-through-the-lives-of-an-extraordinary-family)  ]  

JAUNT THROUGH ASIA
Nick  Frisch, a  2009-10 Fulbright Fellow studying music in China, asks 
whether the  investments in classical music in China are paying off.   
[ _read this article_ 
(http://www.feer.com/jaunt-through-asia/2009/december51/the-coming-crescendo-of-china)   ]

RETROSPECTIVE
Alice Lloyd George,  a Princeton-in-Asia fellow at the REVIEW, explores 
some of  the more notable  moments in the magazine’s  history.
[ _read this article_ 
(http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/december51/retrospective-asia-through-the-lens-of-feer)   ]   
　
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