“This book, in its initial version and again in this edition, is an attempt to show the problems besetting democracy in the Philippines not through the maneuvering of elitist political parties but in the machinations of an upper class as dramatized in the fate of the American bases at Clark and Subic. It examines the corruption and nepotism that overshadow the mystique of People Power revolts. It recounts the drama of the eruption of Mount Pinatubo as the beginning of a period of looting and exploitation—and, in that context, analyzes and contrasts efforts at resolving guerrilla revolt. At the same time, it looks ahead to new frontiers amid renewed threats heightened by the global war on terror.” – from the Preface