EAST-WEST REFLECTIONS ON DEMON

This very timely volume addresses, front on, the issue of rising demonization and bad behavior in international relations. Focusing on the Korean peninsula but also pulling China and other countries into the frame, 18 authors from seven different countries share concerns, experiences and insights that underline a truth crucial to our times: that politics and culture cannot be separated. While East and West share commonalities, their individual cultures pursue differing values and norms that in turn inflect ideas about power and authority, self and society, right and wrong, and consequently about what is good and what is bad. Failure to understand and manage these differences has led to rising East-West tensions and heightened risk of a new Cold War.