Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- April 22, 2018

Andrei Lankov, The Atlantic: How North Korea Learned to Live With 'Fire and Fury'

Kim Jong Un’s concessions on his weapons program suggest that he has adapted to President Trump’s threats.

It's astonishing how quickly the story of the North Korea crisis seems to have changed from one of fear to one of optimism. It was less than a year ago that the U.S. president was threatening “fire and fury” against Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, to touting upcoming talks with him. It is not the case, as Trump tweeted Sunday morning, that the North “agreed to denuclearization.” But the North’s recent declarations that it would at least talk about denuclearization, and put a moratorium on the nuclear and missile tests that kept the world on edge last year, certainly do look like significant concessions.

Or do they? Does this all really mean that the North Korean nuclear issue, the scourge of U.S. policy makers for decades, is about to be solved? Not at all, even if recent developments provide some grounds for—very conditional—optimism.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- April 22, 2018

Kim Jong-un: fragile and under pressure but he won’t give up -- Emma Graham-Harrison, The Guardian

Kim heralds more N. Korea economic reforms: analysts -- AFP

Road to N. Korea’s denuclearization is littered with failure -- Kim Tong-Hyung, AP

Falling Into Old Habits at the 38th Parallel -- Ian Morris, Stratfor

Trouble in Paradise: A Chinese Occupation in Tahiti -- Anne-Marie Brady, The Diplomat

How Trump Could Stumble from a Trade War Into a Real War with China -- Graham Allison, National Interest

Japan’s leader confronts ‘Rising Sun’ president -- William Pesek, Asia Times

US Syria effort hinges on unreliable Egypt -- Jack Detsch, Al-Monitor

New Threat to the U.S.: the Axis of Autocracy. Russia and China had a vicious split in the 1960s. Now they are in a budding bromance. -- Hal Brands, Bloomberg

Why America Just Got Serious about Sanctioning Russia -- Sergey Aleksashenko, National Interest

A very potent protest movement is emerging in Armenia -- Anna Ohanyan, Al Jazeera

The Changing Face of the Country -- Spiegel Online

Cubans sceptical of new president's promises -- Lucia Newman, Al Jazeera

How Chinese gangs are laundering drug money through Vancouver real estate -- Sam Cooper, Global News

Collapse of Russia-Saudi Oil Deal Could Push Prices Down -- Meghan L. O’Sullivan, Bloomberg