The U.S. announced plans to conduct naval exercises off the Korean peninsula in response to the sinking of a South Korean vessel two months ago. Former State Department Official Balbina Hwang and Center for International Policy’s Selig Harrison debate the possible ways forward that could both save face for North Korea and avoid military confrontation on the Korean peninsula. Having trouble viewing this video? Click here to watch.
Earlier this week, South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak announced that his country will suspend all trade with the communist North — a move that could cost the North up to $200 million a year. This measure will be paired with an appeal to the international community to show its disapproval of the North’s actions. China, arguably the nation with the most clout in Pyongyang, has strategically disapproved of the situation without directly blaming North Korea.
Japanese Prime Minister Hatoyama has moved passed stalled negotiations by agreeing with an American base proposal. Though the decision is the first progress toward a resolution that the base dispute has seen, it has opened up new fights with Okinawan residents and some members of Hatoyama’s government. The Wall Street Journal’s Tokyo Bureau Chief Jacob Shlesinger discusses the fate of the base and of Hatoyama’s leadership.
The German Marshall Fund hosts a discussion about the rise of a nuclear Iran. The panel identifies four areas — nuclear proliferation, obstruction of the Middle East peace process, human rights, and support for terrorist organizations — as areas that need to be addressed with Iran.
President Obama and Mexican President Calderón held a joint press conference during Calderón’s state visit. Obama said that the two discussed a broad range of issues and initiatives while giving special focus to immigration and a shared drug cartel problem.
Secretary Clinton testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on The New START Treaty. Clinton says that this treaty, as with the ones that came before it, is better than not having any assurances at all. She says that a drawdown in nuclear stockpiles is a sign of the times and that the current heightened level of nuclear arms possessed by both Russia and U.S. dates back to Cold War levels and is largely unnecessary.
Russian and China have reached a deal with the U.S. and other world powers to impose new sanctions on Iran, a day after the country signed a deal with Turkey and Brazil to swap its nuclear fuel. NewsHour’s Jeffrey Brown reports on the developments. Having trouble viewing this video? Click here to watch.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal discusses his relationship with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the possibility for reconciliation with the Taliban, and the future of U.S.-Afghan relations. McChrystal says that he expects the ongoing stabilization process in Marja to take several more months while he believes the effort needs to be largely Afghan-led.
U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague says that the U.K.’s new coalition government is still a great ally of the United States and though there may be cause for dissenting views later on, the two are on the same page regarding current foreign policy issues such as Afghanistan and Iran. NewsHour’s Margaret Warner talks to Hague about the newly formed government and its policies. Having trouble viewing this video? Click here to watch.
NewsHour’s Gwen Ifill talks to John Lipsky, first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, about the $1 trillion aid package meant to stabilize the Greek economy and prevent the debt crisis from spreading. Lipsky says the package was designed in large part to provide Greek authorities with “breathing room” to implement some much needed, albeit unpopular, economic reform. He also said that once ambiguous intra-eurozone relationships are now being much more well defined for the first time in the euro’s existence.
U.S. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Security and Nonproliferation Vann H. Van Diepen briefs the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade on the current state of various Section 123 Agreements and other U.S. initiatives toward international nuclear cooperation. Diepen highlights talks with Vietnam for a 123 Agreement and a recent proposed arrangement with Delhi that would require India to put in place safeguards for handling U.S. reprocessed nuclear material.
Myanmar’s main opposition party, the NLD, is on the path to dissolution as the registration deadline passes for the country’s first general election in two decades. The decision is a controversial one, with many seeing the dissolution of the party as the vanishing of the one political opposition outlet left. The party, led by the famously detained Aung San Suu Kyi, is protesting the junta’s undemocratic election laws while searching of other ways to be the voice of the resistance.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered a searing, accusatory speech against the West at the United Nations yesterday, causing many nations — such as France, the U.K. and the U.S. — to walk out before he was done speaking. Ahmadinejad talked about the West’s culpability for the escalation of the international arms race.
France 24 interviews European Commission president José Manuel Barroso on the measures being taken to secure Greece’s economy. Barroso says that he believes Greece is the worst case within the Union and other troubled countries, such as Portugal, are taking the correct preemptive measures to prevent needing widespread financial assistance.