Policy Forum

David Kang, Associate Professor of Government at Dartmouth College and co-author of Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies, writes: if the current Northeast Asian countries’ policy of economic cooperation and trade were to bear fruit, then it is not inconceivable that the US itself — not North Korea — may become the odd man out.

Andrei Lankov, senior lecturer at the Australian National University, writes: in the long run the system appears doomed. Sooner or later the gradual disintegration of the police and security apparatus, increasing access to unauthorized information along with manifold social changes will bring it down, probably, in a chain of dramatic, even cataclysmic events.

Dr. Larry M. Wortzel, vice president for foreign policy and defense studies at The Heritage Foundation, writes: President Bush has made it clear on several occasions that he wants a peaceful, negotiated settlement on the Korean Peninsula and has no intention of initiating the use of force against North Korea.

Ruediger Frank, Professor of East Asian Political Economy at the University of Vienna, writes: by reducing his own role for the ideological stability of the system, Kim Jong-il might be resolving one of the most pressing issues in North Korean domestic politics: his succession.

Edward J. Lincoln, Senior Fellow, the Council on Foreign Relations, writes: pursued carefully with a dose of leadership by the U.S. government, APEC can continue the process of nudging the Asia Pacific region closer together economically and helping the poorer members to put themselves on a path to rapid economic growth and development.

Steve Noerper, vice president of Intellibridge and a Nautilus Institute Associate, writes: “Given its NWFZ status, transition from a Stalinist economy, and ‘low frequency broadcast’ of democracy, Mongolia is seeking to position itself as a more relevant regional player.”

Charles Pritchard, Visiting Fellow for Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution and former Ambassador and Special Envoy for Negotiations with North Korea, writes: The U.S. presidential election is behind us. President Bush will lead the United States for the next four years. He faces many challenges, but none more dangerous than the situation in North Korea.

John J. Tkacik Jr, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., writes: “In these important foreign-policy matters, a candid, clear dialogue between Washington and Beijing is essential if both sides are to avoid stumbling into a crisis.”

Peter D. Zimmerman, professor of science and security at King’s College London and a former chief scientist of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, writes: While Bush looked for nonexistent nuclear weapons in Iraq – as Condoleezza Rice suggested, to ensure that the next warning did not come as a mushroom cloud – the capability to generate plenty of mushroom clouds was being acquired by North Korea.

Gavan McCormack, professor in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University and (2003 to 2005) visiting professor at International Christian University in Tokyo,writes: the Japanese convention of serving the empire loyally and unquestioningly has been sanctified by a half-century of evolution as an affluent imperial dependency. In the 20th century, the benefits were large and the costs acceptable. However, the blueprints for the 21st century call for a new level of subjugation.