Bolton and Trump together
John Bolton, former National Security Advisor to President Trump, recently discussed his opinions about America's foreign policy in regards to North Korea. They were not good.
It sounds like everyday political criticism, except Bolton delivered his speech without mentioning the President's name once. The speech was Bolton's first after being fired from the adminstration over a disagreement about how to approach Iran.
While Bolton never mentioned specific actions taken by himself or staff, he criticized "American passivity", claiming that the U.S.'s lack of authoritative action was making the problem worse. He argued that North Korea's continued, short-range missle tests are as concerning as their long-range counterparts, and that if the U.S. was serious on disarming Korea, it could be done within a year. At the same time, Bolton defended Trump's abandonment of the second U.S. & N. Korea peace summit, leaving many unsure of his real opinions on the issue.
Bolton's main message was that America is not doing enough to discipline N. Korea, and that the lack of action is contributing to instability in the regions surrounding the regime. Moving forward, many are unsure of how Trump will respond to N. Korea and the comments of Mr. Bolton, which he has not yet addressed.
1. How can Trump approach the dilemma with North Korea in a way that maintains peace yet establishes America's unwillingess to negotiate?
a. How can he appeal to Democrats vs Republicans?
2. Did Bolton (while in office) have a method for dealing with North Korea? How did he and Trump disagree?
https://www.wsj.com/articles/bolton-now-out-of-government-harshly-criticizes-trumps-north-korea-policy-11569878653
1. First off, America has tried for long enough to negotiate with North Korea to no avail. It has become clear that no peaceful agreement will be reached with any oppressive North Korean dictator, which will be the situation until a dictator is forcefully removed. In order to move on, America must make a deal with China, North Korea's most powerful trade partner, to prevent the flow of goods into the tiny country. While this would certainly not make them happy, it would greatly limit their lasting power, as well as economic power. Next, the U.S. would have to take decisive action to either eliminate the threat of nuclear warfare, or begin peace talks if North Korea showed signs of backing down. There is really no clear way of dealing with North Korea right now, but one thing is for certain: the U.S. must be proactive rather than reactionary in dealing with this tiny, but powerful, nuclear country.
ReplyDelete2. Bolton believed decisive action was the best way to prevent a future nuclear war with North Korea. Trump thought that diplomatic relations would be most successful.
Steven Yarmolinsky
ReplyDelete2. In terms of dealing with North Korea, Trump and Bolton clearly have different views on how to handle the issue. As seen in . recent events, the Trump administration has made it clear, that they will participate in negotiations with North Korea, in attempt to make peace. On the other hand, Bolton believed that North Korea was an imminent threat, and that action needed to be taken immediately to disarm their missiles.
2. The summit between Trump and Kim Jon Un ended with a vague agreement to support the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. However, Bolton has different views on how to handle North Korea's nuclear program. He believed that the focus on holding summits and developing diplomatic relations with Kim is misplaced. Bolton wanted to focus on ending the nuclear threat posed by North Korea through immediate actions.
ReplyDeleteTrump has showed more patience when it comes to North Korea denuclearization. He has had a summit with Kim Jong Un which did not result in much change. Bolton believes the US must use more immediate action in order to denuclearization. He also says that the US has been too passive when it comes to North Korea denuclearization.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Bolton that Trump's foreign policy skills are lacking, however Bolton himself struggled with this as well and still has not offered a solution. Criticism without offering a solution just causes unnecessary conflict. We all know that Trump is not doing well with the North Korea situation, but Bolton's comments are worthless unless he offers a realistic solution.
ReplyDeleteEthan Gardner
ReplyDelete1. Trump could try to negotiate a disarmament between the U.S., in which North Korea stops all nuclear missile test and the U.S. diverts all missiles and other military weapons away from North Korea. It is difficult to appeal to both political parties, although this plan seems to represent a solid middle ground. However. overall there doesn't seem to be a clear way to resolve the issue peacefully and effectively, as we have not made very much progress.
1. Trump's job as president is to be a diplomat for the country and to take charge of foreign relations. For this reason, Trump needs to negotiate firm terms for disarmament of nuclear weapons, and expect pushback from North Korea. It would be useful to incentivize the country in some way, and to find leverage over North Korea, like any aid or trade we provide, in order to make sure that NK understands our stance on this. however, we should also be peaceful and agree for both countries to disarm, not just NK. This will help the safety of Americans and Koreans.
ReplyDelete