Times of India: Can Trump Charm Kim?

US President Donald Trump relies on global crises and foreign policy disruptions to distract from an ongoing investigation into Russian meddling with the 2016 US presidential election: tariff threats, US troop withdrawal from Syria and missile threats, dispatch of US troops to the Mexican border and notably a snap decision to meet with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. “All of these moves threaten to increase instability and tension,” explains Nayan Chanda, founding editor of YaleGlobal Online, in his column for the Times of India. The president’s critics and advisers worry that a summit without substantial concessions from North Korea could elevate the dictator – Trump’s decision quickly prompted a long sought-after invitation for Kim from China. Trump maintains that his pressure prompted Kim’s consideration of denuclearization, but “In the 17 years since then, North Korea has participated in countless negotiations and broken all of its promises by pursuing its nuclear and missile technology programmes, which culminated with the test of a hydrogen bomb and ICBMs capable of reaching the US mainland. Now, Kim has pivoted again to negotiations mode.” All the talk is leading to little action. – YaleGlobal