Conversations with History: Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley

See the Conversations with History Blog See a webcast of this interview: Chanda See also the 2007 interview with Nayan Chanda: How Traders, Preachers, Adventurers, and Warriors Shaped Globalization

This interview is part of the Institute's "Conversations with History" series, and uses Internet technology to share with the public Berkeley's distinction as a global forum for ideas.

Welcome to a Conversation with History. I'm Harry Kreisler of the Institute of International Studies. Our guest today is Nayan Chanda, who is Director of Publications at the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. Former editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review, he is the author of numerous books, including Brother Enemy: The War after the War, and he's also the co-author and contributor to ten other books on war, conflict, reconstruction, and foreign policy.

1. Background ... influence of parents ... transition from history student to journalist ... influence of the Vietnam War on career
2. Being a Journalist ... curiosity ... importance of history ... first assignment in Vietnam ... witness to the fall of Saigon ... telling the story of the North Vietnamese takeover ... becoming aware of the implications of communist rule
3. The Great Powers and the Tragedy of Cambodia ... returning to Cambodia in 1979 ... roots of Khmer Rouge movement ... effect of Vietnamese victory ... U.S. policy under Carter ... competing interests of China and Russia ... settlement of the Cambodia conflict ... pawns in the power game
4. The Great Powers in South Asia ... Pakistan - India conflict ... Kashmir ... Afghanistan ... terrorism ... danger posed by nuclear weapons ... great powers and their clients ... suicide as the new wild card
5. Lessons Learned ... responsibility of the journalist ... advice to students

© Copyright 2001, Regents of the University of California

Site questions: Email iis_webmgr at berkeley.edu.