March 09, 2018
Trump Is the Peacemaker Korea Has Always Needed
Coming against all odds, enduring withering criticism, and facing deep cynicism, Donald Trump announced his decision to become the first sitting American president to meet North Korea’s supreme leader. The Kim family regime invited previous U.S. presidents to meet, but Trump’s swift acceptance of Kim Jong Un’s invitation is a bold gamble that seizes an opportunity produced by a hard-edged pressure strategy. Assuming it takes place by May, the summit is also made possible by Kim’s recent burst of diplomatic dexterity. The two leaders are mirroring each other, gambit for gambit.
The Trump administration’s much-maligned North Korea policy always included two countervailing parts, like the positive yin and negative yang forces in the circle of the South Korean flag: engagement and maximum pressure. Before the Olympics, pressure took center stage; now it appears likely that post-Olympics will focus at least for a while more on engagement and diplomacy.
Read the full article in Foreign Policy.
More from CNAS
-
Rising to the China Challenge
Reports
An independent assessment for Congress as mandated by the FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act....
By Ely Ratner, Daniel Kliman, Susanna V. Blume, Rush Doshi, Chris Dougherty, Richard Fontaine, Peter Harrell, Martijn Rasser, Elizabeth Rosenberg, Eric Sayers, Daleep Singh, Paul Scharre, Loren DeJonge Schulman, Neil Bhatiya, Ashley Feng, Joshua Fitt, Megan Lamberth, Kristine Lee & Ainikki Riikonen
-
Challenging China’s Bid for App Dominance
Commentary
Social media platforms are emerging as central to China’s efforts to shape the global information architecture....
By Kristine Lee & Karina Barbesino
-
Stories from the Backchannel: Season Two Trailer
Podcast
Now more than ever, Americans are interested in the people working behind the scenes on consequential national security decisions. In Season Two of Stories from the Backchanne...
By Ilan Goldenberg, Richard Fontaine, Susanna V. Blume, Kayla M. Williams, Price B. Floyd, Kurt Campbell & Kara Frederick
-
Defense Strategy for a Post-Trump World
Commentary
In a recent piece warning about an emerging arms race in hypersonic missiles, The New York Times quoted Will Roper, the Air Force’s senior acquisition and technology official,...
By Van Jackson
