|
|
Kim Says He’s Open to Denuclearization—But In Exchange for
What?
|
|
|
Yesterday, Kim
Jong-un told a senior delegation from the South Korean government—over
dinner in Pyongyang—that he was willing to discuss denuclearization and
normalization of ties with the United States. Furthermore, he
promised to freeze nuclear and ballistic missile tests while dialogue is
ongoing.
Is this in
earnest? Why is Kim now open to talks on
denuclearization? What security assurances will he be looking for?
We asked Amb.
Joseph DeTrani, who represented the U.S. at the Six-Party
Talks with North Korea the last time we came to this spot on the
merry-go-round, to take us in the room—and inside Kim’s head:
- Why
now, Kim?
“It’s a
combination of the sanctions, the joint military exercises, and a
Moon government that is very willing to have a dialogue with the
North…in 2017, Kim Jong-un—with 25 missile launches, to include an
ICBM that can reach the whole of the United States… he’s coming to
the table feeling more as an equal.”
- What
security assurances?
“I think security
assurances are probably going to go beyond us saying we have no
intention of violating or invading your country. Even ultimately
with a peace treaty, I think he’s looking for the U.S. to remove its
presence on the peninsula…But the ultimate security assurance would
be having normal diplomatic relations with the United States.”
|
|
|
Preparing for the Urban Future of Counterinsurgency
|
|
|
Photo:
Dong Wenjie/Getty Images
Conflict follows
humanity wherever it goes, and the world’s population is increasingly
living in cities. Waning are the days of rural insurgents
in small peripheral villages, or seeking refuge in the hard terrain of
mountainous caverns, dense forests or expansive deserts.
Soon, terrorist
and insurgent groups will mount operations from crowded slums and ritzy
skyscrapers—not just in a dense urban landscape, but in
coastal megacities that pose a unique challenge for which the U.S.
military largely remains unprepared.
- Wars
of the future will not be fighting for cities, but rather fighting
within them.
Counterinsurgency of the future will take place in peripheral slums,
along narrow backstreets, and among a metropolis of civilians going
about their days.
- The
advantage of heavy weaponry a counterinsurgent force has enjoyed in the
past will become limited in megacities, and ground forces,
such as tactical counterterrorism units or special operations
forces, will encounter related challenges as a result of the
physical terrain within a burgeoning metropolis.
- Counterinsurgent
forces must adapt,
and that requires a change in mindset about the use of
unconventional military power. In anticipation of the explosive
urbanization trend predicted to continue and accelerate, the U.S.
military needs to adapt to operating within sprawling metropolitan
environments.
Read the full brief,
with expert commentary from:
- Doug Wise, former Deputy Director,
DIA
- David Kilcullen,
former Special Advisor for Counterinsurgency to the U.S. Secretary of
State
- Vanda Felbab-Brown,
Senior Fellow, Center for 21st Century Security and
Intelligence, Brookings Institution
|
|
|
