Wall Street Journal (September 10)
“South Korea is at a crossroads, but every direction seems to lead to a dead end. Just as the world wakes up from the decadeslong daydream of North Korean denuclearization, the U.S.—South Korea’s longtime defense partner—has grown unreliable.” A poll conducted by the Korean Herald “found 60% of South Koreans don’t trust the U.S. to use its nuclear weapons to protect Seoul from a North Korean attack.” The lack of confidence in its “ally may convince Seoul that there’s no other way to deter Kim Jong Un” than by procuring nuclear weapons of its own.
Tags: Ally, Crossroads, Daydream, Dead end, Defense, Denuclearization, Kim, Korean Herald, North Korea, Nuclear weapons, Partner, Protect, Seoul, South Korea, Trust, U.S., Unreliable
Wall Street Journal (September 24)
“It is now impossible to ignore that China is attempting to redefine its relationship to America and the rules of world order. Under Mr. Xi, Beijing sees itself as a strategic rival rather than a partner. Its foreign policy is increasingly aggressive, sometimes lawless…. The U.S. needs to show that it will resist this behavior—even as it seeks to steer China’s leadership back toward global norms.”
Tags: Aggressive, Beijing, China, Foreign policy, Global norms, Lawless, Partner, Rival, U.S., Xi
Euromoney (September)
“The security crisis brought on by the rise of Islamic State could turn Iran from pariah to much-needed partner to the west.” This places Iran “at a crossroads.” Will the nation chose to be “a resource-rich, rejuvenated success story, returned to the international fold and relied upon by western states as a stable force in an increasingly troubled region?” Or, instead, will it continue as “a recession-hit, bad loan-addled failure still barred from western trade and getting steadily, inexorably worse?” The view in Tehran is that it could go either way.”
Tags: Crossroads, Failure, Iran, Islamic State, Pariah, Partner, Recession, Resource-rich, Security crisis, Stable force, Tehran, Western trade
