Carolin Liss, a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Asia Research Centre at Murdoch University, writes, “patrolling pirate infested waters will not address the underlying root causes of modern day piracy, which include illegal and over-fishing, lax (international) maritime regulations, ineffective and corrupt government forces, armed conflict and widespread poverty… It is therefore important for Australia, and other countries already involved in combating Somali piracy, to understand that the current international patrols have to be seen as a first step in a longer process.”

Haksoon Paik, is a senior fellow at the Sejong Institute in South Korea, an independent think tank devoted to the study of national strategies of Korea, writes, “The Obama administration should adopt a new pragmatic approach… if it wants to solve the North Korean nuclear issue. There’s no other way but to encourage and accommodate North Korea’s willingness to cooperate, getting out of a vicious circle of distrust, as a realistic way to solve key pending issues with North Korea.”

Bruce Klingner, Senior Research Fellow for Northeast Asia in the Asian Studies Center at the Heritage Foundation, writes, “As President Obama contemplates the Sisyphean task of making real progress in North Korean denuclearization, he should first insist that North Korea comply with its existing six-party talks agreements. These include: issuing a data declaration addressing its uranium weapons program and proliferation activities; disabling all nuclear facilities; and accepting a verification protocol that meets international standards.”