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
-
Thanks to Trump, Russia’s Own ‘Pivot to Asia’ Is Bearing Fruit
Commentary
If Washington wants to maintain its strategic position in Southeast Asia, it will need to do more than compete with China. It will also need to avoid handing Russia opportunit...
By Derek Grossman
-
Navigating the Currents: Sri Lanka’s National Security Debate in the New Indian Ocean Order
Commentary
Sri Lanka’s national security debate in 2026 is ultimately between whether the country can break from the institutional pressures that have constrained previous reform attempt...
By Keerthi Martyn
-
XI Jinping Looking to Bring North Korea Back Into China’s Orbit: Analyst
Video
Duyeon Kim, Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, says her sources have informed her that Beijing is unhappy with Pyongyang’s growing relationship w...
By Duyeon Kim
-
Does the Quad Still Matter?
Commentary
Under the second Trump administration, some analysts have expressed growing pessimism about the group’s effectiveness, given the president’s apparent lack of interest in atten...
By Lisa Curtis
