In The News

Member of the Axis of Evil No More

Gavan McCormack March 5, 2007
Crisis can and seems to have opened new opportunity in the Korean peninsula. Having gone to the precipice of a nuclear confrontation, the parties in Northeast Asia have woken up to the need for a realistic approach. China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, the US and North Korea reached an agreement to dismantle the latter's nuclear-weapon program in exchange for fuel aid, opening the door to...

US Had Doubts on North Korean Uranium Drive

David E. Sanger March 2, 2007
In 2002, US officials used intelligence reports not only to expound the danger of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, but also build a case against North Korea. The US accused Pyongyang of seeking to enrich uranium for use in a nuclear bomb and North Korea expelled weapons inspectors. Nearly five years later, as North Korea once again opens its doors for inspectors, American intelligence...

Taking It to the Brink

Daniel Sneider March 1, 2007
The Six-Party agreement may require North Korea to shut and seal its nuclear facilities, but does not immediately require the nation to hand over nuclear weapons already made. “There is ample evidence that this agreement is yet another demonstration of North Korea's uniquely successful brand of negotiation via escalation,” writes Stanford researcher Daniel Sneider, “a use of brinkmanship...

A Denuclearization Deal in Beijing: The Prospect of Ending the 20th Century in East Asia

Gavan McCormack February 23, 2007
The February agreement to begin the denuclearization process of North Korea could usher in a new era of peace and cooperation for a once volatile region. The agreement required diplomacy – the US willing to back away from its stance of refusing to talk with North Korea before the nuclear program was dismantled. In this paper for “Japan Focus,” Gavan McCormack points that North Korea had long “...

Conservatives Assail North Korea Accord

Glenn Kessler February 16, 2007
Conservatives in the US do not trust the Kim Jong Il regime in North Korea and expect proof that the country has “stopped sponsoring terrorism” before removing it from a US terror list. Conservatives who promote a tough stance toward terrorists and nations that sponsor terror resent what they view as a new pragmatic approach emerging from the Bush administration, reports Glenn Kessler in “The...

North Korean Nuclear Agreement: Back to the Future?

Shim Jae Hoon February 15, 2007
Members of the Six-Party talks have finally reached an agreement aimed at halting North Korea’s nuclear-weapons program. If the agreement holds, the accord has a good deal to offer both sides: In return for energy aid, security guarantees and steps toward normalizing relations, Pyongyang will dismantle its nuclear infrastructure in a way that outside powers can verify. Plenty of pitfalls remain,...

Turning Colder

February 13, 2007
Over the past year, concerns that Russian President Vladimir Putin is returning his country to authoritarianism have arisen amidst a series of events that would suit a novel by John LeCarre. With internal enemies of the regime arrested or murdered, by way of an obscure, radioactive poison or by a fleeing gunman in the night, Russia’s government has became more secretive and more insistent on...