The recent two-day talks between the United States and North Korea were a good start, but it also shows that a diplomacy contingent upon denuclearization will not likely break the deadlock. Perhaps the pending leadership succession from Kim Jong-il to his heir apparent Kim Jong-eun provides a window of opportunity for the United States to effectively engage the North through a different strategy, and denuclearization can happen from there.
The China Divide and the Future of the GOP
The current Republican presidential field has given little indication of any serious thought on the future of the critical relationship between the United States and China.
Playing With Fire on the Korean Peninsula
The six-party talks may or may not resolve the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula, but they are the only game in town.
Seoul Salvation
His name was on the lips of everyone I talked with in South Korea last week. As an underdog with little name recognition but a long history of progressive organizing, he came from behind late last month to become the new mayor of Seoul.
Remember his name. Park Won Soon is perhaps the first politician to win with an Occupy Wall Street platform.
Is Alarm About Seven Billion People Just Modern-day Eugenics?
Many believe that attempts to control population growth are a conspiracy by the “global elite” to keep the world’s population to a controllable minimum.
Does Kim Need to Keep His Nukes to Avoid Gaddafi’s Fate?
A massive army, as North Korea possesses, may have the same deterrent effect as nuclear arms.
An Arab Spring in Burma Requires Alliance Between Armed and Nonviolent Resistance
To approximate the results in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, the non-violent resistance of Burma must let itself be complemented by the armed resistance of the ethnic groups.
A Hakka Man Farms Rare Earth in South China
First of all, it’s not earth nor it’s rare, as they say
It lies under our feet, sparkling the soil we farm
Red, green, yellow, blue, purple, sky of grass
And buffalos, patches of rice, bamboos, sweet yams
When a Clandestine Nuclear Program Is Good News
The United States is selective about which states engaging in nuclear proliferation that it condemns.
Gaddafi Just Another Tyrant Who Painted Himself Into a Corner
By burning their bridges, dictators condemn themselves to fight until the bitter end.