Washington’s build-up toward possible military action in Venezuela and Iran has attracted concern that the attacks are part of an irreversible decline. For its distant middle power partners, this raises a question: must middle powers fall when their patron does?
Just last month in New York, South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun met with Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister. The meeting, held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, came at a delicate moment.
This week, South Korean authorities expressed concern regarding the potential impact of anti-China protests during APEC. Anti-China sentiment is today a regular feature at political demonstrations in Seoul and has grown substantially with the growth of extreme right sentiment on social media. Both Beijing and Seoul are concerned.
A long time ago, in a university far, far away, I spent late evenings reading dusty and dated international relations texts.
During the Biden Administration and now under the second Trump Administration, South Korea’s strategists have had their feet washed off the strategic sandbar and are caught in a rip.
The Lee Administration seems hopeful that there’s purpose in securing a summit with North Korea. Let’s call it a Sunshine Policy sequel.
John Mearsheimer makes a lot of sense to me. His work is easy to follow and his ability to communicate to an audience unparalleled. But when talking about the Korean Peninsula, he tends to leave a lot out.
Sould secured a 15% cap on tariffs but look closer, and the foundation crumbles. There is no signed agreement. No formal declaration. No U.S. legal record. And already, the two sides are offering conflicting interpretations of what, exactly, was agreed to.
Just yesterday, the head of the table said grace. He went beyond acknowledgement and thanks for the food to include a prayer for the strength and protection of the State of Israel. Before my first mouthful (and I eat real fast), a close friend raised her voice to say that we should all be praying for the Palestinian people.
Two pieces put out this week invited scorn. The first, “South Korea’s special envoys for… what exactly???”, used diplomatic tradition to criticize the sending of special envoys at the beginning of a presidential administration, invited praise from the right, and anger from the left. The second, “The challenges to Korean conservatism”, used American debates and local knowledge to criticize the ongoing failure to reform the conservative movement in Korea, invited praise from the left and anger from the right. I’m a born charmer.
