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With the Olympic Games Done, Let the Talks with North
Korea Begin
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The Pyeongchang
Winter Olympics closed on Sunday, but the games may have opened the
door for dialogue between the United States and North Korea.
Representatives
from the Hermit Kingdom told South Korean officials they
were willing to have talks with the United States, to which the White
House responded that any talks must lead to an end to North Korea’s
nuclear program.
We asked
Ambassador Joseph DeTrani, former U.S. Special Envoy for
Six-Party Talks with North Korea, to comment:
- “Any
talks with a North Korea now apparently willing to
enter into unconditional talks with the U.S. could result in a
temporary halt to missile launches and nuclear tests, in return for
a scaling back of scheduled joint military exercises.”
- “If
this transpires, then it's possible and likely that negotiations with
North Korea could be reconstituted, to include Japan, China and
Russia, in addition to the U.S. and South Korea.”
- “If
Kim Yong Chol's visit results in U.S.- North Korea talks and a
North-South summit, this will be the beginning of a long and
often frustrating negotiation process with a North Korea
currently determined to retain its nuclear weapons. Our collective
task will be to convince the regime in Pyongyang that a
denuclearized Korean Peninsula will benefit North Korea
significantly, despite the negative examples of Moammar Gadhafi in
Libya and Saddam Hussein in Iraq”
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In Syria, A Growing Strategic Threat to Israel — And Risk
of Escalation
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Photo:
David Silverman/Getty
As the Syrian
regime consolidates power, with the help of Russia, Iran,
and Hezbollah, its combined forces are growing bolder—and presenting an
increased strategic threat to Israel.
In response,
Israel has begun adjusting its policy of selective intervention,
recently targeting Assad air defense systems in response to Iranian
incursions. But Israel’s increased military involvement in Syria risks
unintentional escalation with Tehran.
- The
war in Syria has gradually shifted in the Syrian government’s favor, creating an opportunity
for Iran to further its military presence in Syria, using the
country as a staging ground for future military activity against
Israel as well as to produce and transport advanced military
capabilities for Hezbollah.
- The
U.S. lacks a concrete policy for the Syrian conflict apart from fighting a
now-diminished ISIS, and Russia views its stake as preserving the
Assad regime—not necessarily checking Tehran’s expanding influence.
This means Israel will likely apply its own independent effort to
actively contain Iranian influence and Hezbollah’s growth.
Read today’s full brief,
with expert commentary from:
- Robert Richer, former Associate
Deputy Director for Operations, CIA
- Rhea Siers, former
Deputy Associate Director for Policy, NSA
- Emile Nakhleh,
former member of the CIA Senior Intelligence Service
- Maj. Gen. (ret.)
Amos Yadlin, former chief of Military Intelligence, Israel Defense Forces
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US Cyber Command: “When faced with a bully…hit him
harder.”
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U.S. Cyber Command
is ready to fight adversary cyber forces, with its new
strategy calling for not just readiness and advantage, but “lethality.”
But it’s a mission fraught with the risks of blowback and escalation.
Jason Healey,
Senior
Research Scholar at Columbia University, explains:
- “Getting
in close to grapple with adversary cyber forces is almost certainly
the right move,
at this stage of conflict. Like many of the of us, Cyber Command
seethes at the election interference and other nation-state hacking
– like WannaCry and NotPetya – which are spiraling out of control.”
- “We
cannot forget that our adversaries are sure they are hitting back,
not first.
They have their own sense of righteous purpose and the United States
is seen as the bully in their schoolyard. This isn’t to make any
moral equivalence between U.S. cyber operations and theirs, but
there is an escalatory equivalence as each side responds tit-for-tat
against the campaigns of the other.”
- “The
nation that will dominate, at least in the medium
term, is not the one that can achieve ‘capability overmatch’ no
matter how technologically advanced or agile. The gold medal will go
to the nation prepared to be the most ruthless and audacious. Given
the deep divisions within Washington and around the country, this is
not us.”
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