Diplomacy and International Politics

Nicholas Burns was Ambassador to NATO under Bush Jr. and director of Soviet and Russian Affairs under Bush Sr. He speaks to Planet America’s John Barron about his concerns for the future of NATO under President Donald Trump.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s appearance in Washington is highlighting a rare point of contention between President Trump and congressional Republicans, who continue to hold diverging views over the value of a military alliance that is celebrating its 70th anniversary this week.

Taking a break from the Kavanaugh confirmation battle to reprise his role as peacemaker, Donald Trump offered an unqualified endorsement on Wednesday of the “tremendous progress” being made on the Korean Peninsula following a three-day summit between North and South Korea. “We had very good news,” he told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House. “They met, and we had some great responses.” On Twitter, Trump was even more effusive, calling the latest developments “Very exciting!”

The initial results of this week’s meeting between Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in do offer hope that their two countries, which have been locked in a state of frozen conflict since 1953, will formally end the Korean War and begin a process of rapprochement. Kim reaffirmed his pledge to dismantle North Korea’s Tongchang-ri missile engine testing site and said he would consider shuttering its Yongbyon nuclear facility. Moon and Kim agreed to resume economic cooperation between the Koreas—including reconnecting rail and road links—and reached an agreement that will ease tensions on the North-South border and in the Yellow Sea. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who had canceled a trip to Pyongyang last month amid a breakdown in negotiations, quickly declared his intention to re-engage.

A year ago, it would have been tempting to write off President Trump’s “bull in a china shop” diplomacy as the product of inexperience and impulsiveness. However, after eighteen months in the White House tenure, Trump is looking like a man with a method, a leader acting according to a consistent ideology — if not a traditional strategy — and even a kind of disruptive genius.

Former US ambassador to NATO Nicholas Burns speaks with AM's Kim Landers. He describes the Brussels NATO summit as "messy" and "divisive" due to President Trump's adversarial stance, which he says was an attempt to signal to his supporters at home that he was standing up to Europe. He describes Mr Trump's threats of leaving the treaty as "preposterous."

President Trump is in Europe this week, having first been in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday, then heading to the UK for Thursday meetings and a visit with Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle, before meeting with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday July 16.