Nuclear Issues

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s most recent announcement on Iran policy has raised some eyebrows. He indicated on Monday morning that the Trump administration will not renew waivers to importers of Iranian crude and that other suppliers (meaning Saudi Arabia) have agreed to increase production in to ensure the global oil market remains well-supplied. Skeptics question whether — after last summer’s debacle — there is sufficient trust between Washington and Riyadh for this arrangement to work. What skeptics may not have digested is that, while timing remains a problem, this is a classic win-win situation. It is a near-perfect example of the very limited universe of occasions when transactional diplomacy could actually work.

Stephen Walt writes that the future will be determined by a handful of big questions: What is China's future trajectory; How good are America's cybercapabilities; What's going to happen to the EU; How many states will go nuclear in the next 20 years; and Who will win the debate on U.S. grand strategy?

It's been six months since President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said they came to an agreement on denuclearization, but new satellite images published this week by an independent Washington think tank showed at least 13 previously undeclared missile operating bases in North Korea.

Europeans share the world-wide relief that after apocalyptic threats of war the Singapore summit between President Trump and Kim Jong-un has dramatically lowered tensions on the Korean Peninsula and thus for the time being avoided a conflict that would have horrible consequences for Koreans, Japanese and Americans, indeed for the entire world. Diplomacy is back and both sides are now committed to negotiations toward an agreement on peace and the denuclearization of North Korea.

Nonetheless, the summit has caused a triple shock in Europe.

Observing the US' global role under President Donald Trump, one is inclined to describe being in this era as "present at the destruction."

Nicholas Burns, former U.S. undersecretary of State, provides insight to top international trouble spots next year, including containing North Korea, China trade, and U.S. relations with Russia.