이 책은 지금까지 비관주의, 숙명론에 경도된 한반도 평화연구에서 탈피하여 분석적 절충주의 이론에 바탕하여 북한의 비핵화와 민주화를 통해 한반도의 평화를 구축할 수 있는 가능성을 모색하고, 구체적인 방법과 과정 그리고 한반도 평화가 이루어졌을 때 이를 보장할 수 있는 국제적 그리고 한반도적 차원의 평화보장책을 제시하였다. 저자는 독일의 브란트(W. Brandt)의 동방정책을 살펴보며 불가능한 조건하에서 남북평화의 가능성을 찾기 위해서는 기존의 이론과 정책을 단순히 모방해서는 안 되고 창조적이고 혁신적인 이론과 방법을 구상해야 한다고 주장한다. 이 점에서 “한반도평화를 위한 북한독재체제의 민주화”와 “비핵화와 평화협정의 병행추진전략”은 “생각할 수 없는 것을 생각하게 하는” 혁신적인 해결방안이라는 것이다.

This book will address the problems in conflict resolution and peace-building in the Korean Peninsula. Peace building in the Korean Peninsula has been exceptionally difficult because concerned actors could not found feasible solutions to the complex problems surrounding conflict prevention, conflict resolution and peace building in the Korean Peninsula such as the North Korean nuclear issues, inter-Korean confrontation, and the rising competition of hegemony in East Asia between the US and China.

[저자 소개]
임혁백(Hyug Baeg Im, 任爀伯)
The author, Hyug Baeg Im is a Professor Emeritus at the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Korea University. He received B.A. in political science from Seoul National University, M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago. He served as an Executive Council Member, International Political Science Associations (IPSA, 2007-2012). He was the Dean at the Graduate School of Policy Studies, the Director of Institute for Peace Studies, and the Director of BK 21 Research and Education Corp. at Korea University. He had served as a presidential adviser of the president Kim Dae Jung, Roh Moo Hyun and Lee Myung Bak. He had advised for Ministry of National Unification and that of National Defense, ROK and National Assembly Research Service. He taught at Georgetown University (1995-1996), Duke University (1997), Stanford University (2002-2003) and conducted researches at National Endowment for Democracy (1995-1996) and USKI, Johns Hopkins University SAIS (2012-2013), and Asia Center, Seoul National University (2014-2015). He received the Order of Service Merit from ROK Government, the Best Academic Award 2010 from Korean Political Science Association, and the Best Academic Award 2015 from National Academy of Science, ROK.
His major publications since 2000 include: Mongering North Korean Democracy for Inter-Korean Peace co-authored with Jae Ku (2015); “Crony Capitalism in South Korea, Thailand, and Taiwan,” Journal of East Asian Studies(2001); “Faltering Democratic Consolidation in South Korea,” Democratization (2004); “The US role in Korean Democracy and Security since Cold War Era,” International Relations of the Asia-Pacific (2006); “Inter-Korean Relations and Cross-Strait Relations through the Regional Integration Theories,” Asian Survey(2011); “Better Democracy, Better Economic Growth?” International Political Science Review (2011); Democratic Development and Authoritarian Development Compared,” S. Hua and R. Hu (eds.), East Asian Development Model (2015). “South Korean Democratic Consolidation in Comparative Perspective,” L. and BK Kim (eds.), Consolidating Democracy in South Korea (2000); “Christian Churches and Democratization in South Korea,” TJ Cheng and D. Brown (eds.), Religious Organizations and Democracy in Contemporary Asia (2004); “Development and Change in Korean Democracy since the Democratic Transition in 1987 ,” Y. Chu and S. Wong (eds.), East Asia's New Democracies (2010); “The Origins of Yushin,” BK Kim and E. Vogel (eds.), The Park Chung Hee Era (2011); “The Two Turnovers in South Korea and Taiwan,” Democracy in East Asia (2013); “Political Response To Economic Crisis in 1997 and 2008 South Korea,” H. Magara (ed.), Economic Crisis and Policy Regimes (2014);“Social Welfare, Globalization and Democracy in South Korea,”H. Lim, W. Sch?fer, and S. Hwang (eds.), Global Challenges in Asia (2014), “Exceptional Difficulties of Peace Building in Korean Peninsula” Viennese Contributions to Korean Studies (2014)