Follow us on social

Screen-shot-2021-10-13-at-4.28.03-pm

North Korea closer to testing a nuke

So what should the US be doing about it? Perhaps it needs to throw out the old playbook.

Analysis | Asia-Pacific

North Korea’s missile launch over Japan on Tuesday, the latest in a series of provocative tests this year, may portend a worrisome escalation leading up to a nuclear test, which is reportedly being considered by Pyongyang.

Increasingly frequent and aggressive North Korean provocations since the breakdown of inter-Korean and U.S.-North Korean talks in 2019 are part of a clear historical trend — tensions on the peninsula tend to escalate significantly when the U.S. and South Korean approach is centered primarily on sanctions and military pressure with little (if any) diplomacy. 

Many attempts by Washington and Seoul to punish and pressure Pyongyang have been met with fierce resistance and aggressive actions instead of a white flag. We saw this trend throughout the Obama administration and the beginning of the Trump administration, and the result was a more confrontational security landscape on the peninsula. 

It stands to reason that avoiding further escalation and another nuclear crisis will require urgent U.S. diplomacy and engagement with North Korea and China. Instead, Washington and Seoul alike have ramped up military deterrence while resisting the types of conciliatory steps that could encourage North Korea to re-evaluate its aggressive posture and return to dialogue; they have also failed to initiate a new dialogue with Beijing regarding the slow-motion crisis. 

Pyongyang’s behavior underscores the urgent need for Sino-U.S. cooperation in the face of a seemingly very possible escalation on the Korean peninsula, given Beijing's long-standing role in facilitating dialogue with North Korea. The deterioration of U.S.-China relations in recent years has increased suspicion between them regarding each other's strategic intent on the Korean peninsula, thus making regional cooperation on the North Korea front more difficult.  

Washington and Seoul must reconsider their current North Korea policies, break the vicious escalation cycle and work to reduce tensions. It’s been said that trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is akin to madness; in the face of a looming crisis that threatens regional stability and the security of U.S. allies, it’s time for Washington to stop the madness and try diplomacy — not just more tough talk.


North Korean state television/You Tube coverage of recent Kim gave the speech Monday at the Defense Development Exhibition in October 2021. (screenshot)
Analysis | Asia-Pacific
 Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Sudan
Top image credit: Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan gestures to soldiers inside the presidential palace after the Sudanese army said it had taken control of the building, in the capital Khartoum, Sudan March 26, 2025. Sudan Transitional Sovereignty Council/Handout via REUTERS

Saudi Arabia chooses sides in Sudan's civil war

Africa

In the final days of Ramadan, before Mecca's Grand Mosque, Sudan's de facto president and army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan knelt in prayer beside Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Al-Burhan had arrived in the kingdom just two days after his troops dealt a significant blow to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), recapturing the capital Khartoum after two years of civil war. Missing from the frame was the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Gulf power that has backed al-Burhan’s rivals in Sudan’s civil war with arms, mercenaries, and political cover.

The scene captured the essence of a deepening rift between Saudi Arabia and the UAE — once allies in reshaping the Arab world, now architects of competing visions for Sudan and the region.

For two years, Sudan has been enveloped in chaos. The conflict that erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed forces (SAF) and the RSF, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo "Hemedti," has inflicted immense suffering: an estimated 150,000 killed, allegations of mass atrocities staining both sides but particularly the RSF in Darfur, 12 million displaced, and over half the population facing acute food insecurity.

keep readingShow less
Donald Trump Massad Boulos
Top image credit: Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump is joined by Massad Boulos, who was recently named as a 'senior advisor to the President on Arab and Middle Eastern Affairs,' during a campaign stop at the Great Commoner restaurant in Dearborn, Michigan, U.S., on November 1, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

Trump tasks first time envoy with the most complex Africa conflict

Africa

As the war between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and allied militias against the Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group continues, the Trump administration is reportedly tapping Massad Boulos as the State Department’s special envoy to the African Great Lakes region.

In this capacity, Boulos will be responsible for leading the American diplomatic effort to bring long-desired stability to the region and to end a conflict that has been raging in the eastern DRC for decades.

keep readingShow less
Sens. Paul and Merkley to Trump: Are we 'stumbling' into another war?
Top photo credit: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky) (Gage Skidmore /Creative Commons) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) )( USDA photo by Preston Keres)

Sens. Paul and Merkley to Trump: Are we 'stumbling' into another war?

QiOSK

Senators Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) have co-written a letter to the White House, demanding to know the administration’s strategy behind the now-18 days of airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen.

The letter calls into question the supposed intent of these strikes “to establish deterrence,” acknowledging that neither the Biden administration’s strikes in October 2023, nor the years-long bombing campaign by Saudi Arabia from 2014 to 2020, were successful in debilitating the military organization's military capabilities.

keep readingShow less

Trump transition

Latest

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.