Cato’s Doug Bandow joins Scott again to discuss the situation in North Korea. According to Bandow the red line Trump has created for North Korea is worrisome, but he doesn’t believe it’s a repeat of the lead-up to the Iraq War—Bandow’s greater concern is that the Trump administration will make a major blunder. Bandow believes that Donald Trump’s approach to foreign policy is based on his feelings—which vary—rather than any coherent strategy. Bandow then explains why he thinks claims that North Korea can hit the east coast of the United States with a nuclear weapon may be premature, but that is certainly where things are headed. Lastly Bandow details what he would do to achieve peace with North Korea.

Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a regular contributor at Forbes Magazine, the National Interest, and elsewhere. He’s on Twitter @Doug_Bandow.

Discussed on the show:

• “12/4/17 Eric Margolis on how to resolve tensions with North Korea” (Scott Horton Show)
• “Trump says Tillerson ‘is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man’” (CBS News)
• “North Korea Says It Might Negotiate on Nuclear Weapons. But the Washington Post Isn’t Reporting That.” by John Schwartz (The Intercept)
• “China renews call for North Korea, US ‘freeze-for-freeze’” (Fox News)

“There’s no evidence that he or anybody else there [in North Korea] is suicidal. I tell everybody: you look at the behavior of him, his father, and his grandfather—they all wanted their virgins in this world…There’s no evidence they want to go out on a funeral pyre lit by American nuclear weapons.” —Doug Bandow

Today’s show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download