[Other view] How the US and China can find common ground on North Korea

For the moment, fear of US retaliation appears to have dissuaded North Korea from conducting another nuclear test. But the respite is only temporary. Lasting progress will require something more than saying a US “armada” will be diverted toward the Korean Peninsula.To its credit, the US also seems to be redoubling its efforts to get cooperation from the one country that has the most leverage with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un: China. But if the US is to work with China, then it’s important to

April 19, 2017

[Doyle McManus] Trump’s populist revolution is already over ... for now

Not yet 100 days into Donald Trump’s presidency, the populist revolution he seemed to promise is already over -- at least for now. Two weeks of head-spinning policy reversals have put Trump squarely inside the chalk lines of conventional Republican conservatism on both economics and foreign affairs.　His impulsive management style and his fact-challenged rhetoric are still intact. But most of his policy positions are now remarkably similar to those espoused by the Republican Party’s last establis

April 19, 2017

[Noah Feldman] Turkey’s new playbook for the semi-authoritarian

The votes from Turkey’s constitutional referendum are in, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed victory for his side, even as the result remains disputed. What’s clear is who the winner is not: constitutional democracy. On the surface, the amendments turn Turkey into a presidential system instead of a parliamentary one. Underneath, they strengthen the personal authority of Erdogan, who in the last decade and a half has gone from prime minister to president to quasi-authoritarian leader.

April 19, 2017

[Jeffrey Robertson] Time to retake the foreign policy narrative

On April 15, global attention turned to Korea. Television, internet and social media feeds prioritized Korea over other breaking stories. Korea was at the center of the world’s attention. But it wasn’t South Korea. Global attention focused on Pyongyang and the 105th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung.North Korea controls the foreign policy narrative – “stories” that shape the relationship between the state and its partners. It’s demonstrated incredible continuity in portraying itself as an

April 19, 2017

[Stephen Mihm] The airline industry: Overpacking planes since the 1940s

The revelations last week that airlines overbook as a policy and that they can forcibly remove passengers when their calculations go awry has shocked millions from Chicago to China. But it’s a problem as old as the airline industry itself.　As they expanded their services in the late 1940s, airlines struggled with the problem of “no-shows” -- people who reserved a seat but failed to board. This was a serious problem: A half-empty plane -- even one with a few empty seats -- could operate at a loss

April 18, 2017

[Nirmal Ghosh] There’s still room for diplomacy

Despite fears of a showdown between the United States and North Korea, analysts by and large believe that, barring accidents, saber-rattling will yield to pragmatism.　They note that pre-emptive strikes by the US or North Korea could be catastrophic. Seoul, which has about 10 million residents, could be wiped out in the event of war.　Ash Carter, a former US defense secretary, warned that a pre-emptive strike by the US on North Korea’s nuclear weapons facilities could trigger an invasion of South

April 18, 2017

[Carl P. Leubsdorf] Take hope, the Trump administration is evolving

Presidents evolve. And so do their administrations.　John F. Kennedy was noticeably more cautious and skeptical of military advisers after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. First-term failures and the Republican capture of Congress forced Bill Clinton to take a more bipartisan approach. Staff changes are common.　And in recent weeks, a confluence of events has started to change the preconceptions and mindset Donald Trump brought to the Oval Office, though every unprompted tweet is a reminde

April 18, 2017

[Other view] What comes after ‘mother of all bombs’?

The US bombing last week in Afghanistan, using the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in its arsenal, signals a shift in US foreign policy.　It was the second Thursday night in a row -- after the justified airstrikes in Syria -- that the US used military force in a big show of might in a foreign conflict. This time the US used the biggest weapon ever employed in combat.　If this was just about stamping out Islamic State group soldiers hidden in caves and tunnels, we would laud the move unconditional

April 18, 2017

[Andrew Malcolm] What Trump's attack on Syria did - and did not - do

President Donald Trump’s sudden missile strike against a Syrian air base in retaliation for a gas attack on civilians will not change one thing about that sad land’s bloody civil war.　It will, however, alter the strategic calculus in many places within but also far beyond the troubled Middle East. Politically, the missiles were also a big blast against allegations that Trump is a patsy of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Watch upcoming job approval polls for the popular verdict.　The nearly 60 T

April 17, 2017

[Brian Peterson] Foreign Affairs Ministry’s public diplomacy team and the 'Rock Wall Group'

On a rainy April day, a small group of distinguished foreign professors met with the Ministry of Foreign Affair’s public diplomacy team, including Ambassador for Public Diplomacy Park Enna. They met at a museum in Seoul for a team building event with a taste of Korean culture and history, and then moved on to a nearby restaurant for dinner and a discussion. The goal of this group is to harness the knowledge and experience of foreign professors who have lived and worked in Korea for many years to

April 17, 2017

[Conor Sen] United Airlines feeling the sway of consumers in Asia

On day one of the fiasco over United Airlines’ forcible removal of a passenger from an overbooked flight, the stock of United Continental Holdings Inc. actually rallied. Perhaps Americans were outraged by how the passenger was treated, but airlines operate in a consolidated industry where consumers don’t have much choice. Investors seemed to shrug and assume that customers would still fly United anyway.　But an interesting thing happened on the second day. Overnight, there were reports that the s

April 17, 2017

[Other view] Protect privacy at the border

In a recent op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, naturalized US citizen Lubana Adi detailed how Customs and Border Protection agents seized and searched her phone without a warrant when she returned from visiting her family in Turkey. “Does the 4th Amendment apply to Muslim citizens at LAX?” she asked.The sad truth is that its core protections don’t seem to apply to any US citizen at the border, where customs agents are as free to pore through hard drives as they are to scrutinize roller bags and ba

April 17, 2017

[Other view] Stop pretending on Greek debt

Greece and its creditors say they’ve made progress in their endless negotiations over the country’s debts -- enough to avoid a default on payments worth more than 7 billion euros ($7.43 billion) in July. That’s good, but it was the easy part. The definitive settlement still isn’t in sight.For the past seven years, the International Monetary Fund and eurozone institutions have supported Athens with loans in exchange for fiscal austerity and structural economic reform. This strategy has failed to

April 16, 2017

[Fabiola Santiago] US an increasingly authoritarian society

Finally, in a third statement two days too late made after United Airlines lost millions in stock market value, CEO Oscar Munoz got around to appropriately apologizing for the “truly horrific” forced removal of a passenger from a full flight.“I deeply apologize to the customer forcibly removed and to all the customers aboard,” Munoz said in a statement Tuesday. “No one should ever be mistreated this way.”　In his last two tries, the executive only managed to increase by another decibel the outrag

April 16, 2017