Engagement and its geopolitical context



Opinion Engagement and its geopolitical context Consider assymetrical power relationship when broaching U.S., N. Korean dialogue Tim Beal September 10, 2014 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON Barack Obama - jamesomalley - Creative Commons This is the second in a two-part series on why the U.S. has not engaged with North Korea. The first can be found here. Back in 2010 U.S. political scientist Mel Gurtov asked, in an article in the Seoul journal Global Asia, “Is He Serious About Engagement?” The “he,” of course, referred to President Barack Obama, and Gurtov was asking him to honor his campaign pledges to engage “adversaries such as North Korea and Iran.” Since then the U.S., for various reasons, has been involved in negotiations with Iran and with the sudden rise of the Islamic © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. Get the Daily Update & Podcast Updates Start your day with the North Korea stories that matter most – as selected by Trending

Opinion

Engagement and its geopolitical context

Consider assymetrical power relationship when broaching U.S., N. Korean dialogue

Tim Beal September 10, 2014

Barack Obama - jamesomalley - Creative Commons

This is the second in a two-part series on why the U.S. has not engaged with North Korea. The first can be found here.

Back in 2010 U.S. political scientist Mel Gurtov asked, in an article in the Seoul journal Global Asia, “Is He Serious About Engagement?” The “he,” of course, referred to President Barack Obama, and Gurtov was asking him to honor his campaign pledges to engage “adversaries such as North Korea and Iran.” Since then the U.S., for various reasons, has been involved in negotiations with Iran and with the sudden rise of the Islamic

About the Author

Tim Beal

Tim Beal did a MA (Hons) in Modern Chinese Studies at Edinburgh University, followed by a PhD there on Chinese foreign trade. He moved to New Zealand in 1987 teaching at Victoria University of Wellington until his retirement in 2009. He has written extensively on International and Asian affairs, including two books relating to Korea: ‘North Korea: The Struggle against American Power’ (London: Pluto, 2005) and ‘Crisis in Korea: America, China, and the Risk of War’ (London: Pluto, 2011). He has been visiting both Koreas since the 1990s and maintains a geopolitical website focused on the peninsula at http://www.timbeal.net.nz/geopolitics/

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