Foreign Affairs
Evil geniuses, stumbling fools, or something in between, we will attempt to divine the real motives behind Pyongyang’s foreign policy moves.
Looking for Leverage in All the Wrong Places
It is an article of faith in Washington that sanctions have forced North Korea to become more pliable at the negotiating table in the past and are doing so now. This is self-delusion. To North Korea, sanctions are clear evidence of U.S. hostile intent. Not only has it found ways to evade them, but it has also retaliated for their imposition by [...]
Tokyo Looks East While Washington Looks Back
Washington sometimes forgets that it’s more difficult to move forward when it’s looking back. Preoccupied with base realignment in Japan, it has overlooked more promising developments in Tokyo. The rout of the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and its coalition partners has opened the way to [...]
Why the Sunshine Policy Made Sense
At a recent private meeting in London, a former senior United Nations’ official, drawing on experience relating to a wide range of countries, said that transforming a “failing” or “fragile” state was not something that could be done overnight. Those involved needed to think in terms of ten to twenty years rather than weeks or months. [...]
