International News – The Reagan Vision

Tillerson calls for ‘painful’ measures to punish North Korea

bobcatou — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 17:21:24 +0000

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called Friday for new economic sanctions on North Korea and other “painful” measures over its nuclear weapons program, and he asked other countries to suspend diplomatic relations with the communist regime. – More

A new North Korean video shows missiles destroying a U.S. city in a giant fireball

bobcatou — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 12:38:50 +0000

North Korean propaganda is many things, but it’s not subtle.

Case in point: A new video, unveiled at a recent musical performance in honor of Kim Il Sung, shows missiles leaving a generic U.S. city in flames. In the footage, a handful of missiles arc over the Pacific, then explode into a giant fireball. It ends with a burning American flag, superimposed over a cemetery of white crosses.

“When the performance was over, all the performers and participants in the military parade broke into enthusiastic cheers of ‘hurrah!’ ” the state-run KCNA news agency reported. Kim Jong Un smiled and waved afterward. – Mor

The North Korea Paradox: Why There Are No Good Options on Nuclear Arms

bobcatou — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 23:35:59 +0000

North Korea, a small and poor country facing far stronger adversaries and the perpetual threat of its own collapse, would not seem a likely state to defy four consecutive American presidents. Yet it is precisely that weakness, analysts say, along with the country’s history and internal dynamics, that drives its leaders to pursue nuclear and missile programs at virtually any cost — and that robs the world of almost any option to limit them. – More

China issues stern warning to U.S., North Korea over their growing tensions

bobcatou — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 20:02:47 +0000

China issued a stern warning Friday to both the United States and North Korea, urging them not to push their recriminations to a point of no return and allow war to break out on the Korean Peninsula. In comments carried by China’s official Xinhua news agency, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said “storm clouds” were gathering, an apparent reference to North Korean preparations to conduct a new nuclear test and the United States’ deployment of a naval strike force to the waters off the peninsula. In addition, the U.S. military has been conducting large-scale military exercises with South Korean forces, drills that the North considers provocative.

– More

A Cornerstone of Peace

bobcatou — Mon, 03 Apr 2017 14:25:59 +0000

One of the big security decisions facing the Trump administration in the next few months is what to do about Russia’s violation of a 30-year-old treaty that bans intermediate-range missiles based on land. How the administration reacts will say a lot about how it views the threat from Russia and will have a profound effect on European security. – More

United States and Allies Protest U.N. Talks to Ban Nuclear Weapons

bobcatou — Tue, 28 Mar 2017 06:19:09 +0000

UNITED NATIONS — Saying the time was not right to outlaw nuclear arms, the United States led a group of dozens of United Nations members on Monday that boycotted talks at the global organization for a treaty that would ban the weapons. – More

The Risks of Pre-emptive Strikes Against North Korea

bobcatou — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 18:24:29 +0000

A declaration by Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson that the United States would consider pre-emptive military action against North Korea raises a question that has dogged American military planners for 20 years: How could this be made to work?

The United States has long threatened force. The sincerity of such threats has always been ambiguous, as they are often meant less to prepare for war than to act as a deterrent to North Korea and a reassurance of the commitment by the United States to South Korea.

But there is a reason that, even as North Korea’s weapons programs have passed red line after red line, the United States has never followed through.

Almost any plan would bring a high risk of unintended escalation to all-out war, analysts believe. It would place millions of South Korean and Japanese civilians in the cross hairs of North Korean weapons with few guaranteed benefits. – More

Japan’s Largest Ever Voluntary Contribution to the CTBTO

bobcatou — Mon, 20 Feb 2017 21:58:11 +0000

Japan, by far the only country to experience atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, has decided to make the largest ever extra-budgetary contribution to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization

Russia Deploys Missile, Violating Treaty and Challenging Trump

bobcatou — Wed, 15 Feb 2017 15:06:45 +0000

Russia has secretly deployed a new cruise missile that American officials say violates a landmark arms control treaty, posing a major test for President Trump as his administration is facing a crisis over its ties to Moscow. – More

Why Did Trump Pick a Fight with Putin Over the Nuclear Weapons Treaty?

bobcatou — Sat, 11 Feb 2017 03:52:15 +0000

President Donald Trump has already picked a fight with Russia’s Vladimir Putin over nuclear weapons and the New START treaty. It is a curious battle to choose. The treaty enjoys the overwhelming backing of America’s top national security leaders and military commanders. Trump reportedly didn’t know what the treaty was but seems to be adopting the rhetoric of the far-right and their losing battle to block it in the Senate since 2010. To back out now would uncap the two largest nuclear arsenals in the world, worsening a burgeoning new arms race. Even more worrying, it could leave Russia’s arsenal dangerously uncounted. – More