Looted : The Philippines After the Bases (International Herald Tribune)

From Booklist
Kirk has covered Asia since the mid-sixties and the Philippines since 1968. Although the Spanish-American War made the Philippines an American protectorate and the islands housed major American military bases until five years ago, Americans have only occasionally taken a serious interest in what's really going on there. With Looted, Kirk seeks to change that pattern by exposing the corruption and family oligarchies that persist long after the mid-eighties "people power" revolution, examining who has benefited from U.S. decommissioning of Subic Bay and Clark Air Force Base, and analyzing government response to internal Muslim and Communist revolts. In a nation rocked by typhoons, volcanoes, and, in the past six months, financial panic, Kirk argues that democracy is mystique, not fact, and that threats from other parts of Asia mean the U.S. should care about the Philippines. Mary Carroll


Asiaweek
This is an informed survey of a political system which resolutely resists reform....An engrossing read.


Review
"This is an informed survey of a political system which resolutely resists reform. . . . An engrossing read."



Book Description
In Looted, veteran correspondent Donald Kirk cuts through the mystique of democracy that has shrouded the Philippines since the American withdrawal from its military bases there in 1991 and 1992, revealing the corruption that exists beneath the surface. Making use of his extensive firsthand knowledge of the region, Kirk recounts the drama of one of history's greatest volcanic eruptions as just the beginning of a period of looting and exploitation. He provides details and revelations of the Philippine role in the stripdown of Clark Air Base and the subversion of Subic Bay to serve the purposes of one ambitious politician, and he offers a disturbing analysis of the efforts to resolve Muslim and Communist revolt.



About the Author
Donald Kirk is the Seoul correspondent for the International Herald Tribune.



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This is an informed survey of a political system which resolutely resists reform....An engrossing read.


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