| Sanctions haven’t stopped North Korea yet. But could latest ones help? Posted: 15 Aug 2017 02:32 PM PDT ![Sanctions haven't stopped North Korea yet. But could latest ones help?]( "Sanctions haven't stopped North Korea yet. But could latest ones help?") As it considers how to stop North Korea's nuclear program, the Trump administration confronts an uncomfortable truth: The more sanctions the West has piled on the regime, the more progress it has made in missile technology. Instead of blunting its nuclear ambitions, more than a decade's worth of sanctions have pushed North Korea into the arms of China, which so far has resisted turning the screws on its troublesome ally. The stepped-up pressure by itself isn't likely to convince North Korea's Kim Jong-un to give up his nuclear ambitions. But it does create a glimmer of fresh hope for a seemingly intractable predicament: What's possible, though far from certain, is that economic pressure from the US on China and from China on North Korea – coupled with robust US military preparation for any kind of action from Pyongyang – could set the stage for talks that lead to a diplomatic breakthrough on the larger geopolitical issues.
|
| Moral leadership in the wake of Charlottesville Posted: 15 Aug 2017 02:00 PM PDT ![Moral leadership in the wake of Charlottesville]( "Moral leadership in the wake of Charlottesville") President Trump finally denounced white supremacism on Monday, uttering a detailed if belated message that both Democrats and Republicans said was urgently needed from America's leader, given the violent weekend protests in Charlottesville, Va. "Well done Mr. President," tweeted one of his sharpest critics, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) of South Carolina. The United States is dotted with hundreds of Confederate monuments whose potential removal, as is planned in the Virginia college town, is expected to galvanize the KKK, neo-Nazis, and other white supremacist groups, who feel they have an ally in the president.
|
| Why the US demands China innovate, not steal Posted: 15 Aug 2017 12:26 PM PDT ![Why the US demands China innovate, not steal]( "Why the US demands China innovate, not steal") The US complained that China prefers to take the technology and intellectual property of foreign companies rather than rely mainly on its own ingenuity to build a more competitive economy. The complaint was in the form of an order by President Trump to investigate China's alleged theft of specific US patents, copyrights, and other intellectual property. In particular, the US wants to stop China from targeting American companies and forcing them to hand over their trade secrets when they try to enter the large Chinese market.
|
| In call to cancel debt, Cambodia asks: When war is over, who cleans up the mess? Posted: 15 Aug 2017 12:17 PM PDT ![In call to cancel debt, Cambodia asks: When war is over, who cleans up the mess?]( "In call to cancel debt, Cambodia asks: When war is over, who cleans up the mess?") On Aug. 15, 1973, a flurry of American planes flew at least 225 military missions over Cambodia. The Vietnam War was right next door, and the United States aimed to stop the North Vietnamese from moving troops and equipment into South Vietnam along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, part of which ran through Cambodia. To that end, US forces dropped 2.7 million tons of ordnance on more than 100,000 Cambodian sites – more than Allied forces dropped during all of World War II.
|
