The Guardian (October 12)
“Within a decade, the US will need to deter two major nuclear weapons powers for the first time,” as can be seen from “the Russian arsenal that is increasingly being brandished by Moscow and an expanding Chinese stockpile.” President Biden’s “new national security strategy (NSS) depicts China as the most capable long-term competitor, but Russia as the more immediate, disruptive threat.”
Tags: Arsenal, Biden, Brandished, Capable, China, Competitor, Deter, Expanding, Moscow, National security, Nuclear weapons, Russia, Stockpile, Strategy, U.S.
Los Angeles Times (February 17)
“Persuading
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to give up his nuclear weapons will be a long
and grueling process that will require President Trump to make significant
concessions — and even then, the effort may fail.” Although Trump will want to “to
claim spectacular results,” it is likely that any real accomplishments will
only be found in “seemingly mundane details.”
Tags: Concessions, Grueling, Kim Jong Un, North Korea, Nuclear weapons, Results, Trump
Wall Street Journal (February 12)
“In Germany, a Cold War deal to host U.S. nuclear weapons is now in question” as debate “flares up for the first time since the 1980s.” Chancellor Merkel’s coalition partners “are reconsidering their support for a decades old arrangement that puts Germany under the U.S. nuclear shield, a development that could further undermine the country’s already-tense relationship with the Trump administration.”
Business Times (March 28)
Kim Jong Un’s visit to Beijing “is only the latest sign of moving geopolitical plates over the Korean stand-off. Following spiralling tensions in the peninsula in 2017 over the North’s nuclear weapons and missile programmes, 2018 has brought unexpected, and what could yet prove remarkable, diplomatic respite that has seen a mini-rapprochement between North and South.”
Tags: Beijing, Diplomatic, Geopolitical, Kim, Korea, Missiles, Nuclear weapons, Rapprochement, Stand-off, Tensions
Washington Post (January 3)
“At this moment in time, Kim Jong Un is acting like a more mature person than the president of the United States…. It looks more and more dubious that Trump’s national security advisers know how to persuade him not to stumble his way into a conflict with North Korea. And Trump’s inability to coerce North Korea into giving up its nuclear weapons will only cause him to make even more outlandish threats.”
Tags: Advisers, Conflict, Kim, Mature, North Korea, Nuclear weapons, Outlandish, Stumble, Threats, U.S.
The Atlantic (July/August Issue)
Although Donald Trump called Kim “a madman with nuclear weapons,” North Korea’s leader “appears to be neither suicidal nor crazy.” In fact, “he has acted with brutal efficiency to consolidate that power; the assassination of his half brother is only the most recent example. As tyrants go, he’s shown appalling natural ability…. his moves have been nothing if not deliberate and even cruelly rational.” With only bad options for dealing with the North, this is “perhaps the most reassuring thing.”
Tags: Appalling, Assassination, Brutal, Crazy, Deliberate, Efficiency, Kim, Madman, North Korea, Nuclear weapons, Rational, Reassuring, Suicidal, Trump, Tyrants
The Atlantic (July/August Issue)
Although Donald Trump called Kim “a madman with nuclear weapons,” North Korea’s leader “appears to be neither suicidal nor crazy.” In fact, “he has acted with brutal efficiency to consolidate that power; the assassination of his half brother is only the most recent example. As tyrants go, he’s shown appalling natural ability…. his moves have been nothing if not deliberate and even cruelly rational.” With only bad options for dealing with the North, this is “perhaps the most reassuring thing.”
Tags: Ability, Assassination, Brutal efficiency, Deliberate, Kim, Madman, North Korea, Nuclear weapons, Power, Rational, Reassuring, Trump, Tyrant
South China Morning Post (May 26)
“China will not support using more sanctions to further pressure North Korea into halting its nuclear weapons programme.” Amid North Korea’s “continuous testing of ballistic missiles,” China’s reluctance “is setting up a clash with US President Donald Trump over economic issues that the US cannot win.”
Tags: Ballistic missiles, China, Clash, North Korea, Nuclear weapons, Pressure, Sanctions, Testing, U.S.
Fortune (February 19)
“China just took a big swing at North Korea’s economy.” By banning coal imports from North Korea for the remainder of 2017, China is stepping on its “financial lifeline.” Coal is North Korea’s “single largest export item.” The move “could help put international sanctions aimed at North Korea’s nuclear weapons efforts into fuller force.”
Tags: China, Coal imports, Economy, Exports, North Korea, Nuclear weapons, Sanctions
New York Times (March 28)
“The recent attacks in Belgium and elsewhere would have been catastrophic if the terrorists had gotten their hands on nuclear weapons or even a primitive ‘dirty bomb,’ which combines nuclear material with conventional explosives. International efforts to prevent access to such weapons have made significant progress in recent years, but there is still a long way to go.”
Tags: Attacks, Belgium, Catastrophic, Dirty bomb, Explosives, Nuclear weapons, Progress, Terrorists, Weapons
