In The News

Foreign Affairs: Historic Breakthrough or Historic Blunder

Daniel R. Russel June 14, 2018
Post-summit consensus is that the US president was naïve, too trusting of a brutal dictator seeking attention for developing nuclear weapons. Trump, who withdrew from a detailed deal with Iran, signed a vague agreement with North Korea extracting a promise “to work toward complete denuclearization” – the terms weaker than what were offered to previous presidents before subsequently being broken....

Korea Times: Guarantee the US Guarantee

Charles Park June 11, 2018
All parties who care about the Asia Pacific region should hope for a successful summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un. Expectations should not run high. “If the past is any indicator, the chances are high that the summit will be a failure,” explains researcher Charles Park for the Korea Times. “There may be no deal, or else it will be a short-lived one like all the previous nuclear deals...

Chatham House: Britain Stands Up to China Over Freedom of Navigation

Bill Hayton June 8, 2018
British naval ships traversed the South China Sea to demonstrate support for freedom of navigation despite China’s claims to most of the major waterway. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, signed by China and the UK, gives countries control over 12 nautical miles from their coasts – foreign military and other ships have the right to traverse such waters as long as they do not “threaten ‘...

Korea Herald: Speculations Rise Over Denuclearization Cost

Choi He-suk June 4, 2018
The cost of disabling nuclear weapons may be small compared to the costs of production, maintenance and upgrades, but that is still high. The process of disarmament could take a decade, according to Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation. Only skilled teams can oversee the process. Security along with political and economic stabilization is required to prevent...

The Guardian: UN Human Rights Body Meets on Gaza

Peter Beaumont May 24, 2018
The UN’s human rights council held a special meeting in the wake of mass killings by Israeli troops at border protests on May 14, the same day that the United States relocated its Israel embassy to Jerusalem. As of May 16, 60 Palestinians had been killed. The Palestinian foreign ministry has recalled its ambassadors to Romania, Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic – four nations that broke...

South China Morning Post: China Won’t Interfere in Venezuela

He Huifeng May 22, 2018
Three years ago, the United States was Venezuela’s top trade partner, accounting for 43 percent of exports and 29 percent of imports. Rising animosity in US-Venezuelan relations increased Venezuela’s reliance on China including oil-for-loan deals. The country’s economy has collapsed and China may be giving up on Venezuela, too: Basic goods and food are unavailable, crime is widespread, and the...

Vox: Taking Trump’s Korea Diplomacy Seriously

Matthew Yglesias May 18, 2018
Diplomacy and building good relations with other nations requires trust over the long term with policies based on firm values and principles. The Trump administration instead engages in abrupt policy shifts that puzzle allies and foes alike while leaving a trail of broken promises. Matthew Yglesias of Vox does not expect the United States and North Korea to reach a deal for ending the latter’s...