BLOG Post #252: No Room for Dialogue 3 Jan 20203 Jan 2020 “Our president will start a war with Iran because he has absolutely no ability to negotiate. He’s weak, and he’s ineffective. So the only way he figures that he’s going…
BLOG Post #238: Trump-Kim III: Making History Without Making Progress? 2 Jul 20192 Jul 2019 Taking a few steps onto North Korean soil, and posing for pictures with a friendly dictator, seem to fit Trump-era diplomacy better than a carefully laid out process. But unless…
BLOG Post #237: The Trump Way of War 29 Jun 20191 Aug 2019 Notice how similar are the Trump administration’s interactions with Iran and North Korea? The pattern in both cases is dangerous, ill-informed, and bound to fail. US adversaries by now understand…
BLOG Post #231: National Security—A Dangerous Confusion 7 May 201927 May 2019 This blog also appeared in Informed Consent, May 6, 2019, https://www.juancole.com/2019/05/backward-ignoring-interference.html There is a dangerous confusion in US national security policy when evaluating relations with Russia and China. The Trump…
APB APB: Trump and Kim, Act II 28 Feb 201928 Feb 2019 Trump was correct to describe denuclearization last June as a lengthy “process” that one summit meeting could not achieve. However, the second summit, in Hanoi at the end of February…
BLOG Post #223: Happy New Year from Kim Jong-un 6 Jan 2019 Kim Jong-un looked quite cosmopolitan on January 1 as he made his annual New Year’s address to the nation from the comfort of a paneled office, wearing a spiffy Western-style…
BLOG Post #221: Weaponizing Humanitarian Aid 13 Dec 201813 Dec 2018 Long ago, US foreign aid programs honored the principle that humanitarian aid should be treated separately from economic and military assistance to governments. Public Law 480 (popularized as “Food for…
APB “Gangsterism” or “Progress”? Examining North Korea’s Latest Statement on Denuclearization 9 Jul 20188 Jul 2018 Most US news reports are suggesting that the North Koreans may be backtracking on their commitment to denuclearization,calling the US position “gangster-like” following the visit of Secretary of State Mike…
American Politics and the World… Post #142: Unfit to Command 9 Jan 201727 Feb 2017 During the presidential campaign a significant number of former senior foreign policy and national security officials from both parties spoke in no uncertain terms about Donald Trump’s qualifications to…
BLOG… Post #139: People Power in Seoul 14 Dec 201627 Feb 2017 Over the last several weekends, roughly 4 million Koreans have taken part in demonstrations in Seoul and other cities with the aim of bringing down President Park Geun-hye, who has…
BLOG… Post #136: The Trump Team: Loyal and Dangerous 15 Nov 201627 Feb 2017 Personnel appointments provide a useful glimpse into what policy will be. Senior-level appointees are the policy shapers, and from what we have seen thus far, we are right to have…
BLOG… Post #115: Sanctions and Defiance in North Korea 23 Apr 201627 Feb 2017 Part 1: Sanctions—A Failed Strategy (Note: This is the first of a two-part commentary on North Korea. The second part will discuss the North’s latest weapons programs, which have evidently…
