The People’s Republic Autocracy of North Korea

It may have escaped your attention (I'd meant to post on this a few days ago) but North Korea is no longer a communist country. They've scrubbed the constitution of all references to communism: SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has officially made Kim Jong-il its “supreme leader” and his “military first” policy its guiding ideology, according to the text of ...

Manly Thoughts

What you've missed the past week if you're not reading Manzine: Features: Mad About Mad Men (James Joyner) - “Mad Men” is the hottest show on TV, having somehow captured the zeitgeist with its meticulous portrayal of early 1960s Manhattan. Guide to Homebrewing Beer (Tim F) - Brewing your own beer is pretty easy. Here are answers to questions would-be homebrewers often ...

Dick Cheney’s Tell-All Book

Dick Cheney is breaking the mold on how recently-departed vice presidents act. First, he immediately went into attack mode against President Obama. Now, he's going after President Bush, too. Bart Gelman for WaPo: Cheney's disappointment with the former president surfaced recently in one of the informal conversations he is holding to discuss the book with authors, diplomats, policy ...

Bill’s Excellent Adventure

I've refrained from rapid reaction to the controversy over Bill Clinton's trip to North Korea to secure the release of two American journalists because I've been torn between competing maxims.  I agree with the critics who say rewarding despots who have seized American citizens is bad precedent, incentivizing illegal behavior.  Yet, Bob Manning is right, too:  our leaders have no ...

John Podhoretz: Reporters Shouldn’t Chase Dangerous Stories

Of all the commentary I've seen on the North Korean hostages, I think that this has to be the most execrable.That said, and now that they are out of jeopardy, Ling and Lee deserve to be held accountable, at least in the realm of public opinion, for the unthinkably bad judgment they displayed in their preposterous, vainglorious, and astoundingly naive ...

OTB Radio – Tonight at 5:30 Eastern

The next episode of OTB Radio, our BlogTalkRadio program, will record and air live from 5:30-6:30 Eastern. Dave Schuler and I will be talk about the Cash for Clunkers program, the Birthers, Bill Clinton's North Korea trip, and other topics in the news. We'll also be taking calls at (646) 716-7030. Owing to a high trolls to legit callers ratio, however, ...

Another Nuclear Worry: Burma

As if we didn't have enough to worry about apparently the Burmese have built a secret nuclear reactor: Two of Asia's most oppressive regimes may have joined forces to develop a nuclear arsenal, according to strategic experts who have analysed information supplied by a pair of Burmese defectors. The men, who played key roles in helping the isolated military junta before defecting ...

It Takes Two to Tango

Michael Gerson pronounces the Obama Doctrine of engagement DOA: But even lacking an ideology, the administration does have a doctrine. The defining principle of President Obama's foreign policy is engagement with America's adversaries. Much of the president's public diplomacy has been designed to clear a path for such talks -- expressing respect for legitimate grievances, apologizing for past wrongs and offering ...

Is the World Smiling Back?

Over the weekend North Korea fired a volley of short range missiles into the Sea of Japan in defiance of UNSC resolutions, heightening tensions between North Korea and its neighbors, South Korea and Japan. The Guardian Council has certified the election results in Iran and President Ahmadinejad and the “hardliners” that he represents seem even more firmly in control ...

North Korea July 4th Missiles

As widely expected, the DPRK fired some missiles on the 4th of July. Apparently, however, they were not aimed at Hawaii. North Korea fired seven ballistic missiles off its eastern coast Saturday, South Korea said, a violation of U.N. resolutions and an apparent message of defiance to the United States on its Independence Day. The launches, which came two days after ...

Engaging Iran

The United States is a very large and diverse country, its people have many differing views as you'd expect in such a country, and, not particularly surprisingly, some of those views are in diametric opposition. That's particularly apparent in Americans' views of how we should interact with Iran. Isolationism remains a strong strain of thought in the United States and ...

Questions for Michael J. Totten

As noted earlier, Michael J. Totten will be on OTB radio in 90 minutes talking about events in Iran and, time permitting, North Korea. He's mostly blogging these topics at Commentary if you want to catch up on what he's written. What questions would you like us to ask him?

OTB Radio – Tonight at 7 Eastern

The next episode of OTB Radio, our BlogTalkRadio program, will record and air live from 7-8 Eastern. Dave Schuler and I will be joined by special guest Michael J. Totten to discuss the unfolding events in Iran and North Korea. Please join us. We'll also be taking calls at (646) 716-7030. Owing to a high trolls to legit callers ratio, ...

North Korea Responds

In reaction to yesterday's UNSC resolution North Korea has vowed to throw off the restraint it has shown so far in its nuclear weapons development program: North Korea has declared it will weaponise all its plutonium stocks and threatened military action against the United States and its allies after the UN security council imposed new sanctions to punish Pyongyang for last ...

New Sanctions for North Korea

The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously today to impose additional sanctions on North Korea: UNITED NATIONS, June 12 -- The U.N. Security Council unanimously voted Friday to impose a broad range of additional financial, military and trade sanctions on North Korea in response to its recent nuclear and ballistic missile tests, and called on states for the first time to ...