
Commentary / Japan Jul 9, 2018
The Quad isn't a knight in shining armor to slay the dragon
Instead of trying to counterbalance China through a collective defense pact, the Quad four should build an informal security architecture.
Instead of trying to counterbalance China through a collective defense pact, the Quad four should build an informal security architecture.
Despite praise for last week's "unprecedented" summit, there were good reasons why previous U.S. administrations had refused multiple requests from North Korean leaders to meet.
U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton detests professional diplomats as gutless appeasers, and has yet to meet an arms control agreement he likes or a crisis that cannot be solved by bombing the enemy.
The U.S. president's decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal will worsen ties with Europe, destabilize the Mideast and complicate efforts to reverse North Korea's nuclearization.
The belief that the Kim-Trump summit will produce a definitive resolution rests on irrational exuberance.
The pieces of the jigsaw are falling into place on the Korean Peninsula. But the overall picture — a denuclearized North Korea, a nuclear-weapon-free zone for all of Northeast Asia and a U.S. withdrawal from East Asia — remains fuzzy.
The Kim-Trump summit is an opportunity that will be difficult to seize and easy to squander.
The U.S. and Russia seem determined to restart a nuclear arms race.
The biggest positive story line of 2017 was a new nuclear ban treaty adopted July 7.
Canberra has chosen to stick to the U.S. line rather than recognize the reality of China, work to improve relations with Beijing and commit to global organizations.