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New Cold War History
Nation Building in South Korea: Koreans, Americans, and the Making of a Democracy
In this ambitious and innovative study Gregg Brazinsky examines American nation building in South Korea during the Cold War. Marshaling a vast array of new American and Korean sources, he explains why South Korea was one of the few postcolonial nations that achieved rapid economic development and democratization by the end of the twentieth century. Brazinsky contends that a distinctive combination of American initiatives and Korean agency enabled South Korea's stunning transformation. On one hand, Americans supported the emergence of a developmental autocracy that spurred economic growth in a highly authoritarian manner. On the other hand, Americans sought to encourage democratization from the bottom up by fashioning new institutions and promoting a dialogue about modernization and development.
Expanding the framework of traditional diplomatic history, Brazinsky examines not only state-to-state relations, but also the social and cultural interactions between Americans and South Koreans. He shows how Koreans adapted, resisted, and transformed American influence and promoted socioeconomic change that suited their own aspirations. Ultimately, Brazinsky argues, Koreans' capacity to tailor American institutions and ideas to their own purposes was the most important factor in the making of a democratic South Korea.
Expanding the framework of traditional diplomatic history, Brazinsky examines not only state-to-state relations, but also the social and cultural interactions between Americans and South Koreans. He shows how Koreans adapted, resisted, and transformed American influence and promoted socioeconomic change that suited their own aspirations. Ultimately, Brazinsky argues, Koreans' capacity to tailor American institutions and ideas to their own purposes was the most important factor in the making of a democratic South Korea.
- GenresHistory
311 pages, Paperback
First published September 3, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 18, 2014
I read first three chapters so far. His heavily pro-American view gives a feeling that you are still in the cold war (but it is a recent dissertation!). He also underestimates the superficiality of American influence in South Korea, missing the strong Japanese element below the surface.
UPDATE: I finished the book and found it arrogant and frustrating. He tells you what Americans want to hear. There are no Koreans, really, in his narrative, maybe except Park Chung-hee. In his explanation, the anti-American feeling among the Koreans comes out of the blue. Some reviewers think this book shows how US occupation could be a splendid success. If this is a success story of democratization (ya right that's thanks to American efforts), apparently it takes 40 years.
UPDATE: I finished the book and found it arrogant and frustrating. He tells you what Americans want to hear. There are no Koreans, really, in his narrative, maybe except Park Chung-hee. In his explanation, the anti-American feeling among the Koreans comes out of the blue. Some reviewers think this book shows how US occupation could be a splendid success. If this is a success story of democratization (ya right that's thanks to American efforts), apparently it takes 40 years.
July 8, 2018
An excellent New History of the Cold War that succinctly covers the interaction between Americans and South Koreans in the construction of South Korea especially in regards to its economic rise and political struggles. This book reminds me of a shorter version of John Dower's superb Embracing Defeat about the interaction between Japanese and American political and social forces in the reconstruction of Japan after WWII. Sometimes this book is a bit lacking in convincing arguments about how the US or South Koreans influenced a particular change, but overall it is very illuminating about the changes occurring in South Korea and why the relationship is a bit rocky from time to time.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews