News about North Korea falls into two categories: the comical and the frightening. Examples of the former type of story abound, but unfortunately, the news from North Korea has of late been of the frightening variety. What the North Korean leadership is hoping to achieve by its belligerence is anyone’s guess, but the aggressive U.S. response has only escalated tensions.
Nuclear weapons vastly complicate foreign policy.
Security officials stood by during the attacks without intervening.
Mining companies are jockeying for position to be the first to successfully vacuum up Pacific resources.
From the eight-lane Nairobi-Thika highway built by Chinese construction companies to the ubiquitous Chinese restaurants around town, the signs of China’s activity are everywhere in Kenya—right down to the friendly nihao called out by Kenyans as I walk down a Nairobi street. Elsewhere on the continent, however, the seams of this tight relationship are becoming stretched.
A major game changer is needed to break the silent stalemate between the United States and North Korea. And it’s going to take more than Dennis Rodman’s trip to North Korea. It will require the United States to take greater responsibility and leadership to end the Korean War, as well as a feminist, anti-militarist approach to achieve peace and justice on the Korean peninsula.
Aung San Suu Kyi has shown great strength as Burma’s opposition leader. During her years of house arrest, she became a symbol of freedom and democracy. Yet these qualities will not necessarily bode well for a potential presidency, given the demands of governing a divided country.
The U.S. military, “witch burning,” negotiations with Iran, among other affairs.
Over the last two years, the Obama administration has executed what the president has termed the “Pivot to Asia” strategy, whereby the United States’ global military force posture is being reconfigured to focus on the Asia-Pacific region as Washington’s central front. Containment of China is the aim of the Pivot strategy, which has drawn criticism from liberal critics of the policy.
What war between China and Japan could cost us.