U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson may think his year-end summary of U.S. foreign policy was a tale of success. But a remarkable op-ed article in The New York Times in fact illustrates the opposite: It shows in chapter and verse how the United States lacks leverage over many of the critical challenges it faces globally. From North Korea to China to Russia and the Middle East, American objectives are clear — and the Trump administration has no credible road map to achieve them.
Start with North Korea. Tillerson's argument is that President Donald Trump's confrontational strategy has worked. His proof is that Kim Jong Un's provocative missile launches have enabled the U.S. to get three sanctions resolutions from the U.N. Security Council.
Let's leave to one side the obvious objection that Kim's provocations would've produced a strong international reaction even if Trump hadn't continually increased the sense of crisis with his own insulting rhetoric. The Trump administration and Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, deserve credit for shepherding the resolutions to passage.