FEATURED

Post #223: Happy New Year from Kim Jong-un

Kim Jong-un looked quite cosmopolitan on January 1 as he made his annual New Year’s address to the nation from…

22Dec 201822 Dec 2018

Post #222: Road to Ruin: Trump’s Middle East Retreat

The flight of the generals is now complete with the resignation of General James Mattis—the last of the four generals…

13Dec 201813 Dec 2018

Post #221: Weaponizing Humanitarian Aid

Long ago, US foreign aid programs honored the principle that humanitarian aid should be treated separately from economic and military…

BLOG

Post #210: At Home and Abroad, Trump Abandons Human Rights (Part 1)

7 Jul 20187 Jul 2018

In January 1941, with the prospect looming of US involvement in another European war, President Franklin Roosevelt spoke of America’s purpose in the world: to protect and promote “four freedoms.”…

BLOG

Post #209: After Singapore, is Iran the Next US Target?

23 Jun 201822 Jun 2018

Predictably, both sides at the Singapore summit are claiming victory. Kim Jong-un, having shared the stage with Donald Trump, can say that North Korea is now recognized de facto as…

BLOG

Post #208: What Happened? Assessing the Singapore Summit

13 Jun 201813 Jun 2018

“Peace and prosperity,” “lasting and stable peace,” “peace regime,” “denuclearization,” “new US-DPRK relations”—these fine words and phrases dominate the joint statement of Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un. Yet it’s difficult…

BLOG

Post #207: Trump’s War on the Poor: An Impeachable Offense

6 Jun 20187 Jul 2018

Were it not for the source, it would hardly be news to learn that the United States can’t take care of its most needy—that it may be the richest country,…

APB

Who Is Kim Yong-chol?

General Kim Yong-chol is arriving in New York to discuss North Korea’s denuclearization with top US officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo whom Kim has met twice. The meetings…

BLOG

Post #206: In Iran and North Korea, China Holds Some Cards

25 May 201825 May 2018

Donald Trump made his television reputation by telling people “You’re fired.” The same bullying approach now substitutes for his international diplomacy, with Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran…

APB

Who’s To Blame if the US-North Korea Summit Isn’t Held?

16 May 201817 May 2018

Virtually everyone in the US faults North Korea for threatening to cancel the Trump-Kim summit scheduled for June 12 in Singapore. No one, including the liberal media, bothers to address…

BLOG

Post #205: Breaking the Iran Deal: the Delusion of Victory

10 May 20189 May 2018

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has undoubtedly been sipping Champagne these days in celebration of his successful effort to lobby Donald Trump over the Iran nuclear deal. Netanyahu’s crude interventions to…

BLOG

Post #204: The Korean Summit and After: What the Experts Say, and Miss

1 May 201830 Apr 2018

In the wake of the inter-Korean summit meeting, analysts are having a field day taking apart the Panmunjom Declaration of Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in and speculating about how Donald…

DOCUMENTS & REPORTS

The Three Inter-Korean Summit Final Statements

(1) June 15, 2000 Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il Declaration: The leaders of the South and the North, recognizing that the meeting and the summit talks were of great significance…

BLOG

Post #203: Will Abe Shinzo “Make Japan Great Again”?

24 Apr 201822 Apr 2018

(Note: A somewhat shorter version of this article appears in China-US Focus, April 20, 2018, https://www.chinausfocus.com/peace-security/japans-shifting-security-posture-under-abe.) Abe Shinzo, Japan’s prime minister, has now held his sixth meeting with Donald Trump.…

“Unpacking a US Decision to Engage North Korea”

16 Apr 201826 Jun 2018

A special report of 38 North, co-authored with Carla Freeman and available at https://www.38north.org/wp-content/uploads/pdf/38-North-SR-1804_Freeman-Gurtov.pdf From the report: "Understanding what North Korea really wants is essential because hope that progress toward denuclearization…

BLOG

Post #202: The Syrian Quandary

Donald Trump’s threat of another missile attack—or any attack—on Syria cannot improve the rebels’ position on the ground, affect use of chemical weapons, change Russia’s and Iran’s policies, or alter…

APB

APB: A Dangerous Game of Chicken

6 Apr 20186 Apr 2018

As the “tit-for-tat” trade fight between the US and China escalates, Donald Trump is likely to find that he doesn’t “know China” the way he once thought. When he said…

BLOG

Post #201: The Coming Crisis with Iran

3 Apr 20183 Apr 2018

With the appointments of Mike Pompeo as secretary of state and John Bolton as national security adviser, Donald Trump has signaled his preparedness by the May 12 deadline to withdraw…

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