In The News

North Korea Tests China and the World

Shim Jae Hoon January 28, 2013
Foreign relations with isolated North Korea are in an unending winter – hints of a thaw repeatedly followed by hard freezes. The country’s young leader, Kim Jong Un, gave a speech, the first broadcast by a North Korean leader since 1994, suggesting that his country might be ready for dialogue with South Korea President-elect Park Geun Hye. Then, responding to UN Security Council Resolution 2087,...

US and China Come Together Over Defiant North Korea

January 25, 2013
North Korea’s leaders have long sought international attention with threats of missile launches. Rather than ignore the errant behavior, China now sides with the United States. After meeting with Chinese officials, the US special representative for North Korea reported that “Both sides agreed that ‘a nuclear test would be troubling and a setback to the efforts to denuclearise the Korean peninsula...

Deafness at Doomsday

Lawrence M. Krauss January 17, 2013
Global leaders routinely ignore the views of scientists in many areas of policymaking, and this threatens global security. “Scientists’ voices are crucial in the debates over the global challenges of climate change, nuclear proliferation and the potential creation of new and deadly pathogens,” writes Lawrence M. Krauss, theoretical physicist at Arizona State University. Nine countries have...

Iran’s Nuclear Program: Handle With Care

Jamsheed K. Choksy, Carol E. B. Choksy November 14, 2012
Both the United States and Iran must contend with polarized politics. Yet large majorities of Iranians and Americans do not support Iran’s development of nuclear capability for military purposes and do not want to start a war over the issue. An attack on Iran’s nuclear program, which it insists is for peaceful purposes, is useless because the knowhow is there, as it is in many other places, and...

Non-Aligned Summit Belies Isolation of Iran

Dilip Hiro September 4, 2012
The Non-Aligned Movement was born out of the Cold War, as emerging economies looked to become partners in international relations, enhancing self-reliance and development without subservience to one superpower or another. NAM’s 16th summit was hosted by Iran, contradicting a notion that US-led sanctions are isolating the state. Instead, NAM endorsed Iran’s right to develop nuclear energy for...

Syrian Conflict Promises Toxic Outcome – Part I

Leonard S. Spector June 26, 2012
Stability for Syria – with its deep sectarian divide, authoritarian minority rule by Alawites over Sunnis, and heavy military support from the likes of Iran and Russia – has long been tenuous. As the US assists Saudi Arabia and Qatar in arming Syrian rebels, eruption of war is anticipated within weeks. Stockpiles of chemical weapons, hundreds of tons concentrated in a handful of sites, guarded by...

With Hunger Growing, North Korea Returns to Nuclear Talks

Shim Jae Hoon March 7, 2012
China’s policy toward North Korea is increasingly viewed as self-serving, cynical and awkward. On one hand, China sides with the international community, echoing demands for a nuclear-free peninsula and, on the other, props up the Kim regime with food and military aid. At first glance, North Korea’s new leader, Kim Jong Un, has let China off the hook by offering to restart talks on...