* “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” It’s a geopolitical axiom for the ages. And for a while, it didn’t look like Russia and the U.S. vs. ISIS would be an exception. Chalk it up to timing, Syrian subplots and egos to die for.
* Imagine, the global-power country that shares a border with North Korea doesn’t use all of its considerable influence to keep Kim Jong-Unhinged in line. China’s leverage amounts to economic survival for a country that prioritizes nukes over people. And how ironic that without China, a sovereign North Korea wouldn’t even exist today.
We also know China’s rationale for not moving against this criminal family regime.
It doesn’t want a destabilized North Korea pouring refugees across the border. Nor does it want a resultant united Korean peninsula aligned with the U.S. and its allies. But at a certain point, aren’t all such scenarios subordinate to the ultimate existential threat that is Pyongyang?
President Trump has reversed himself on currency-manipulation charges and wants reciprocity in the form of China reining in North Korea. But has Xi Jinping read “The Art of the Deal”?
* Amid all the un-nuanced, predictable posturing, Tweets included, about how to handle North Korea, the words of H.R. McMaster, the national security adviser, were the most reassuring. “It’s time for us to undertake all actions we can, short of a military option, to try to resolve this peacefully.” Don’t know if Michael Flynn wouldn’t have worded it like that.
* What sends a more troubling signal: an ongoing cycle of missile launches and nuclear tests, a parade of ICBMs or the sight of those goose-stepping female soldiers?