Abstract
The Trump administration declared the Obama-era “strategic patience” toward North Korea a failure. As President Trump extols unpredictability as a virtue, the new U.S. policy of “maximum pressure and engagement” has become a factor of strategic uncertainty in Northeast Asia. However, the instrumental use of uncertainty has a narrow window of opportunity for frustrating North Korea’s nuclear missile development and raising international expectations for China holding Pyongyang accountable. This article considers the prospects of the United States in leveraging “all options on the table” while recognizing the contradictions in China’s role and in South Korea’s domestic politics.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 7-31 |
| Number of pages | 25 |
| Journal | World Affairs |
| Volume | 180 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Jun 2017 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2017, SAGE Publications Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Asia
- China
- DPRK
- Defense policy
- Denuclearization
- Diplomatic strategy
- Economic sanctions
- Engagement policy
- Japan
- Kim Jong-un
- Missile defense
- Missile tests
- Moon Jae-in
- North Korean Nuclear Weapons
- President Trump
- Pyongyang
- ROK
- Republic of Korea
- Seoul
- South Korean Election
- THAAD
- Terminal High Altitude Area Defense
- United States Alliances