John Feffer returns to the show following his trip to South Korea and Japan where Donald Trump is visiting to continue his escalation against North Korea. Feffer details China’s role in curtailing North Korea, why the effort has fallen short, and how the Trump administration continues to pressure countries in the region. Scott wonders whether Donald Trump is really as dangerous on North Korea as everyone portrays him—and why neither the United States or North Korea has motivation to start a war. Feffer believes that the United States ultimately uses the North Korea threat to increase our leverage and influence in Asia, particularly over China. Feffer then travels down memory lane and explains how the Iraq War somehow dovetailed into escalation with North Korea. Feffer then shares his guess for the future: strategic patience—even from Donald Trump.

John Feffer is the co-director of Foreign Policy In Focus and author of the dystopian novel Splinterlands. His latest article for FPIF.org is “Honoring Otto Warmbier.” Follow Feffer on Twitter @JohnFeffer.

Discussed on the show:

• Moon Jae-in
• Shinzo Abe
• United States-South Korea Free Trade Agreement
• Trans-Pacific Partnership
• Xi Jinping
• Terminal High Altitude Area Defense
• “Japan: The World’s Next Big Arms Dealer?” (The National Interest)
• “Trump said ‘samurai’ Japan should have shot down overflying North Korean missiles” (Japan Times)
• “Ground Invasion Only Way to Destroy North Korea’s Nuclear Arsenal, Pentagon Says” (NBC News)
• “A grand bargain with China could remove North Korea’s nuclear threat — but it would destroy America’s global influence” (LA Times)
• Agreed Framework
• Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization
• War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death, by Norman Solomon
• Highly enriched uranium
• Gordon Prather
• “Text of President Bush’s 2002 State of the Union Address” (Washington Post)
• Proliferation Security Initiative
• “Rumsfeld calls for regime change in North Korea” (The Telegraph)
• Christopher Hill

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