Environment – Page 9 – Circles and Squares

“Every Practitioner of International Relations Should Major in Literature” (essay)

May 14, 2012May 14, 2012 by

Emanuel Pastreich

“Every Practitioner of International Relations Should Major in Literature”

May 14, 2012

The Study of Literature and International Relations

There is a general assumption in the study of international relations that one should have a strong background in economics, development policy or the study of international relations if one wishes to play a significant role in diplomacy or security, whether that role is in government itself, or in the broad range of disciplines related to the global exchanges between NGOs, governments and corporations.

Well, as someone who did not take a single economics class as an undergraduate, and who did not start following international relations with any real seriousness until I was already a professor at University of Illinois, I feel a need to justify why I came to both write about international relations, and to be involved in a variety of activities related to international relations and

Beijing’s future appearance?

April 16, 2012April 16, 2012 by

Beijing is one of my favorite cities. I recently visited as part of the Future Forest effort to fight desertification through the planting of trees. I picked up a fascinating booklet at that time that describes plans for extensive new real estate developments. Let us start by looking at traditional Beijing and its narrow alleys known as “hutong.” These hutong roads are rapidly disappearing as part of contemporary progress.

Emanuel’s opening remarks at Asia Institute Seminar on Nuclear Power in North Korea

March 22, 2012March 21, 2012 by

Article in Munhwa Ilbo newspaper on Korea’s Organic Farming Tradition (in Korean)

February 29, 2012 by

This article in Korean recounts the my “Jewel of Great Price” report in Korean. The question raised is how the great tradition of organic farming from Korea’s past can be brought back to life in our age.

문화일보

2012년 2월 29일

“한국 유기농의 무한한 價値”

이만열/경희대 후마니타스칼리지 교수·동아시아문명학

Korean Organic Farming: “The Jewel of Great Price” (Report)

January 25, 2012 by

Korean Organic Farming: “The Jewel of Great Price”

Emanuel Pastreich

The Asia Institute

January 25, 2012

The Flower of the Dharma Sutra (Fahuajing 法華經) includes a remarkable tale entitled “The Jewel of Great Price” (無價寶珠) that describes quite accurately the state of organic farming in Korea today as a forgotten treasure.

In “The Jewel of Great Price,” a man is given a jewel by a friend as a present. But because the friend sews the jewel safely into the lining of the man’s jacket while he is sleeping and does not have the chance to tell him about it before parting early the next morning, the man suffers through terrible deprivations over years, unaware that he has this priceless jewel right in his own jacket. Only later when he meets up again with his friend does he learn of the treasure that he was carrying with him.

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Presenting rural Korea to the World as the “Provence of Asia” (essay)

January 22, 2012 by

Presenting rural Korea to the World as the “Provence of Asia”

When I lived in Daejeon for four years, I was struck by the beauty of the surrounding landscape. The old hills covered with pine trees, the rivers and canals that surrounded luscious fields of rice were infinitely appealing. I found many delightful villages that produce unique agricultural products in the countryside. The older farmhouses were simple, but beautiful, reminding me of some of the farm houses I had seen as a child in Europe. In rural Korea, I felt, I had encountered something equivalent to Tuscany or Provence in Europe, an idyllic region which could attract tourists from around the world to enjoy its villages and its agricultural products.

Country Living Magazine: A New Trend in Korea

January 19, 2012 by

The magazine “Country Living” (정원생활) has taken on a new level of sophistication in its design and its content. In a word, “Country Living” presents an appealing image of rural life that is tempting to Koreans in their 30s and 40s. It is hard to imagine such an image of rural Korea previously, a place most Koreans wished to escape for the modernity of the big city (usually Seoul) but things are changing rapidly in Korea these days. Most magazines about country life tended to be rather drab descriptions of agricultural activities with older women in bright colored outfits.

Asia Institute Seminar with Noam Chomsky (December 3, 2011)

January 14, 2012 by

December 3, 2011
Emanuel Pastreich with Professor Noam Chomsky

Asia Institute Seminar

The Asia Institute with GPYC Korea (Global Peace Youth Corps)

Emanuel Pastreich:

Recently we have seen quite a bit reporting about a reengagement of the Obama Administration in East Asia and actions that are perceived as an effort to encircle and contain China. Most notable is the agreement to deploy 2,500 US Marines in Darwin announced during President Obama’s November visit to Australia. Well certainly reading through the New York Times you might think that the United States has surrounded China. But there is plenty of evidence that it is in fact the United States that is increasingly isolated from the world. We find increasingly that it is the United States that is difficult to get visas for entry and the United States that is isolated in the international community.

Jung Ang Monthly Magazine Article Features Asia Institute Seminar with Noam Chomsky (article in Korean)

January 5, 2012January 5, 2012 by

The December issue of Jung Ang Monthly Magazine (월간중앙) featured an extended article on our recent webinar with Professor Noam Chomsky of MIT. Here is a copy of the Korean text. The video and English version will be forthcoming.

The New Normal

January 1, 2012 by

The Japan Times for January 1, 2011 offered this article on a cesium scanning store with the title “The New Normal?”

The implications are striking, if perhaps a bit overblown. Imagine what it would be to have long-term scanning for cesium, and possibly other isotopes, in Japan as part of the quotidian landscape?