PATRICK LAWRENCE: A Nation of Narcissists
Narcissism is the open-and-shut condition of the elites who fashion and execute American foreign policy. And they are utterly incapable of seeing their country as it is. All those malign authoritarians, more than 20 of them, who gathered in Tianjin…
PATRICK LAWRENCE: Trump’s Creaky Door to Peace in the Koreas
The question is, which side betrayed the once-promising prospect of denuclearization and an end of seven decades of flashpoint tension in Northeast Asia. In June 2018, when Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un summitted in Singapore, the American and North Korean…
PATRICK LAWRENCE: Brighter US-Iran Prospects
Despite the seemingly escalating risks of war, last week also produced an unexpected drift toward the mahogany table. There was no shortage of alarming incidents in and around the Persian Gulf last week. But the risks of open conflict between…
PATRICK LAWRENCE: Trump & the Bolton-Pompeo Axis
Patrick Lawrence eyes the U.S. president’s difficulties with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton as he tries to resume peace talks with Pyongyang. Moon Jae-in’s Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump last Thursday marked an important…
PATRICK LAWRENCE: It Was Kim That Walked Away
There are two sides to the story about why the second North Korea peace summit fell apart last week, writes Patrick Lawrence. The abrupt and unexpected failure of the second Trump–Kim summit last week raises many questions. Let’s get one…
Second-Round Stakes Higher for Trump and Kim
The North Korea leader obviously wants a deal, writes Patrick Lawrence, which gives the U.S. a historic opportunity next month. President Donald Trump’s announcement late last week that he will meet North Korea’s Kim Jong-un next month promises a significant…
The Trump Administration’s Spoiler Foreign Policy
U.S. strategy abroad is assuming a curious shape. Whether the president or his minders are running affairs, Patrick Lawrence sees the U.S. being reduced to playing a spoiler role in the Middle East and Northeast Asia. It is not possible…
Is the Korean spring now over and the Trump-Kim summit on hold? Maybe — and maybe not
Trump’s hawkish advisers are clearly trying to scuttle peace talks. But China and North Korea may be ahead of them The potentially historic summit of Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un is on. No, it is off and we will…
History is being made on the Korean peninsula: But what kind? And who will make it?
This week’s historic meeting in Panmunjom was much more than symbolism. Now the pressure is on Washington According to the agenda I have on my desk, the leaders of North and South Korea spent eight and a half hours together…
Peace in Korea is possible: Talks between Trump and Kim Jong-un will define the future
Foreign policy cliques in D.C. are eager to shut down this process: America’s choice is to join or risk isolation A few weeks ago, it was sensible to ask where the Trump administration intended to take the diplomatic process on…
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