Strategic thinking about the Korean nuclear crisis : four parties caught between North Korea and the United States /

Failure to comprehend regional dynamics has hampered US foreign policy in crises ranging from the Middle East to the Balkans. Thus it is important that Rozman (sociology, Princeton Univ.) presents a six-state Northeast Asian perspective on the North Korean nuclear weapon "crises" from the 1990s to 2007. He is determined to present the whole picture of regional dynamics by delineating the roles of Russia, South Korea, Japan, and China in the central US-North Korean controversy. The book reads as a narrative of these states' involvement, though it is somewhat light on North Korea's policy making and without a unifying theoretical framework for comparing crisis-related foreign policies. The book would have benefited from a clearer history of these states' regional roles, especially focusing systematically on the legacies of past wars. Rozman understands the issues but tends to assume readers' knowledge. He is prone to some hyperbole in asserting that Northeast Asia is the world's "most dynamic" region with the "fastest rising military assertiveness." Missing is a conclusion about the lessons of such crisis dynamics, and the playoff of domestic and international political audiences. Summing Up: Recommended. All readership levels. F. S. Pearson Wayne State University