South Korea needs united front with US

His differences with US President Donald Trump may have helped win Moon Jae-in the presidency of South Korea. Now he and Trump need to focus on what unites them.During the campaign, Moon took issue with the US administration’s approach to North Korea. In the past, he has called for engaging economically with the North and restarting joint development projects, rather than seeking to isolate Kim Jong Un’s regime. He opposed what he portrayed as the rushed deployment of a US system designed to sho

May 10, 2017

[Mihir Sharma] The new strongman diplomacy

What happens when strongmen meet? We know that the world is slowly filling up with populist nationalists, from Manila to Washington. But how do they plan to deal with each other? Will they join forces against the sanctimonious, supra-national powers that dismay them all? Or will they compete, as erstwhile tough guys seem most comfortable doing?　Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised if they find an entirely different way to frame their international engagement, one sure to puzzle, infuriate and somet

May 9, 2017

[Trudy Rubin] West should be rooting for Macron

Yes, indeed, the solid victory of centrist Emanuel Macron over far-right populist Marine Le Pen in French presidential elections has precluded disaster from befalling Western democracy. This is no exaggeration.　She had sworn to lead France out of the euro, NATO and the European Union. This would have led to the demise of all three — to the delight of her ally, Vladimir Putin.　Macron’s victory has put paid to that nightmare. It has halted (for now) the rise of ultra-nationalist populism in Europe

May 9, 2017

[Other view] Same conflicts, new interests

In Donald Trump’s White House, the conflicts of interest are vivid, varied and globally expansive, and each day seems to bring more.Nicole Kushner Meyer, the sister of Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, has spent the past few days pitching her family’s latest real estate venture, a luxury complex in New Jersey, to potential Chinese investors -- and offering them a shot at a US visa in return. Although the White House wasn’t involved, promotional material made quite clear whose sister

May 9, 2017

[David Ignatius] How Democrats lost their way -- and how they can find it again

In his heroically doomed 48-year campaign to promote the Washington Monthly, Charles Peters hit upon one especially apt (if un-catchy) slogan: “If you’re not afraid of being right too soon.” 　Peters founded his little magazine in 1969. From the start, he needled mainstream liberals about issues that weren’t getting enough attention at the time: income inequality, entrepreneurship, Wall Street’s money culture, gay rights, the downside of meritocracy, the importance of reforming and supporting the

May 9, 2017

[Letter to Editor] A response to Chun’s memoirs

I would like to respond to some assertions made by Chun Doo-hwan about my father.My name is Christopher Peterson. I am the youngest son of Arnold A. Peterson. Also known as Peh Teh Son. He is the author of the book “5-18 The Kwangju Incident.”Recently, former president Chun Doo-hwan libeled my father in his memoirs. He says that my father was a liar in regards to his account of the Gwangju Incident. He called him “Satan in the guise of a cleric.” My father’s testimony during congressional hearin

May 8, 2017

[Other view] Mideast peace won’t come easily

Donald Trump won the presidency thanks to a series of cocky, what-me-worry promises to solve seemingly intractable problems using his supposedly superior art-of-the-deal negotiating skills.Last week, he made another such promise. After meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House, he vowed flippantly to bring the century-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians to an end, adding that the problem is “something that, I think, is frankly maybe not as difficult

May 8, 2017

[Mohamed A. El-Erian] What Macron can do for free markets everywhere

Once the initial market relief plays out -- that, even during an unprecedented “anti-establishment” wave in both Europe and the US, French voters rejected a far-right president in Marine Le Pen of the National Front -- interest will shift to how relative newcomer Emmanuel Macron will manage to govern in a country accustomed to mainstream politics. And it is not just about his prospects for reinvigorating the French economy and, working closely with Germany, spearheading a modernization of Europe

May 8, 2017

[Oded Revivi] A West Bank peace

Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority continues to pay monthly salaries to convicted terrorists and imprison Palestinian peace activists for meeting with Israelis. This is not a recipe for peace -- 1,000 White House receptions and international peace summits will not bring us any closer to peace, if the process continues to empower the corrupt and impotent Palestinian Authority. The new Trump administration would be advised to concentrate on behind-the-scenes grass-roots diplomacy that strengthen

May 8, 2017

[Andres Oppenheimer] Trump’s official foreign policy looks to be about ignoring human rights

President Donald Trump’s frequent praise for dictators around the world has long suggested that he would be no champion of human rights. Regrettably, it looks as though his disdain for universal freedoms will now become an official tenet of US foreign policy.　In a May 3 address to State Department employees, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that while US foreign policy is guided by fundamental values, too much reliance on human rights principles “really creates obstacles to our ability to a

May 8, 2017

[Ramesh Ponnuru] Limit to what nationalism can do

American politics has a new organizing principle, according to a theory that has been making the rounds. Reaganism is dead. Our central debate no longer concerns big vs. small government, or traditionalism vs. progressivism on morals. Instead it pits nationalism against globalism.　R.R. Reno, the editor of the religious-conservative journal First Things, writes that President Donald Trump recognizes “the new schism in American life,” which “is about immigration, free trade and the broad and deep

May 7, 2017

[Other view] A meager GDP expansion won’t suffice

It’s too early to draw any large conclusions about the performance of the US economy during the Trump administration, but the first quarter of 2017’s growth rate, 0.7 percent, is distressingly low.　North Korea’s growth rate is estimated at between 1 and 1.5 percent, by comparison.　The US stock market, among the economy’s leading indicators, continues to go up. The investor class reaps immediate benefit, pension plans and 401(k)s get a boost, and consumer spending is bolstered by the wealth effec

May 7, 2017

[David Ignatius] Putin requested call with Trump to outline plan for Syrian safe zones. Why now?

Into the deadly morass of the Syrian War, Russian President Vladimir Putin has dropped a new peace proposal that calls for establishing safe zones in several parts of the country, grounding the Syria Air Force and possibly creating buffer zones between combatants to be monitored by international peacekeeping troops.　Putin outlined his plan in a telephone call Tuesday with President Trump, according to a diplomatic source. Putin requested the call and dominated the conversation. The White House h

May 7, 2017