Graham Barrett spent many years as a foreign correspondent, foreign affairs commentator, editorial writer, and foreign editor of 'The Age' newspaper in Melbourne, Australia. His also contributed to the 'Sydney Morning Herald' and the 'Australian Financial Review'. At an earlier time he was on the editorial staff of the Johannesburg 'Star' and spent two years working for black African publications 'Golden City Post' and 'Drum' magazine. More recently he was for a decade a World Bank official based in Washington, DC, while working across East Asia and the Pacific. He has taught a post-graduate course on contemporary Asia at the University of Melbourne. The author is a former vice-president of the Foreign Press Association in London and a former vice-president of the Australian Institute of International Affairs. He won a United Nations Association major media peace award in 1990.