Regional Tensions

North Korea Threatens To Call Off Talks With US Over John Bolton

News that North Korea has cancelled planned talks with South Korea should be nothing surprising for those skeptical that peace had been achieved on the Korean Peninsula following a meeting between South Korean president Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. North Korea now also threatens to call off talks with the US, specifically raising issue with comments by American National Security Advisor John Bolton...

Trump-Kim Meeting Increasingly Uncertain After America Withdraws From Iran Nuclear Deal

A great deal of uncertainty would seem to be ahead for the planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and American president Donald Trump, which is scheduled to take place on June 12th in Singapore. This is particularly seeing as Trump has decided abruptly to withdraw from a nuclear deal with Iran that lifted long-standing economic sanctions on Iran in 2015 in return for Iran dismantling aspects of its nuclear weapons program...

Enthusiasm Regarding North Korea Rapprochement Likely Premature

With North Korea and South Korea moving towards diplomatic rapprochement after some seventy years of being officially at war, this has been hailed as a historic turnaround. North Korea and South Korea have vowed an end to the Korean War and North Korea has agreed to nuclear disarmament. However, many assessments to date have likely been too optimistic...

Concern About Chinese Influence On Rise Globally, But Lack Of Conceptual Vocabulary Among Western Nations

Concern with Chinese spying efforts or otherwise undue influence is on the rise globally, as can be observed in a number of recent incidents. But due to the fact that “western” and “non-western” countries are often thought of in separate mental frames, one has seen few connections made between such incidents in international media. Notably, countries with a history of colonization have been more quick to make the accusation that China is a "neo-colonial" power, while western countries without such histories seem to lack a conceptual vocabulary to describe Chinese influence...