Outside the Beltway

Policies towards Iran and NK are both a mess.

With one speech, Kim Jong-Un has demonstrated the Trump Administration’s North Korea policy to have been an utter failure.

Notwithstanding Russia’s weak position vis a vis the west, It’s Putin who seems to be winning.

New reports indicate that the North Koreans never took any of the steps to reduce their research programs that President Trump claimed they did.

The DPRK is promising a “gift” to the United States. The only question seems to be what form it will take.

WIth North Korea’s end of the year deadline for progress on talks quickly approaching, it is clear that the Trump Administration’s policies with regard to the DPRK have failed.

With the clock ticking down to the end of the year and a deadline imposed by the DPRK on talks with the U.S., the Trump Administration’s North Korea policy is in a shambles.

The Trump Administration’s strategy in North Korea is an utter failure.

Brexit seems like it’s inevitable at this point, and that could set in motion a series of events that would mean the end of the United Kingdom.

North Korea appears to be pulling back from any future negotiations over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, leaving the Trump Administration’s Korea policy in shambles.

An empty column with a seed of one good point buried in a bunch of nothing.

Faced with an election next week, Israel’s Prime Minister is pushing a settlement plan that would be an utter disaster.

Meanwhile, on the Korean Peninsula…..

President Trump continues to have an odd obsession with nuclear weapons.

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s actions toward two Democratic Congresswomen,seemingly at the bidding of President Trump, is the latest example of the growing partisan divide over policy toward Israel.

Just over a week after Dan Coats announced he was stepping own as Director of National Intelligence, there are more shakeups at the top of the U.S. intelligence community.

President Trump’s nominee to be the next Director of National Intelligence is quite simply not qualified for the position he has been nominated to.

Dan Coats is stepping down as Director of National Intelligence, and President Trump wants to replace him with an inexperienced, obsequious toady.

Tensions are increasing in the Persian Gulf thanks to a collection of actions by Iran, the United States, and United Kingdom.

Iran announced that it was exceeding another limitation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, upping the already tense situation in the Persian Gulf

In memos to his superiors, the British Ambassador to the United States had an exceedingly frank, and negative, assessment of the current occupant of the White House.

Realistically, President Trump has very few options when it comes to dealing with Iran and its nuclear program.

Is the United States finally ready to give up on the fantasy that North Korea will surrender its nuclear weapons?

President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un met at the Demilitarized Zone for what amounts to their third summit in a year. As with the previous two, there was nothing of substance accomplished.

The Trump Administration unveiled new sanctions against Iran yesterday. They’re unlikely to accomplish the entirely unrealistic goals the President claims to have in mind.

A possible way forward?

Trump and Iran.

Patrick Shanahan is out as nominee to be Secretary of Defense after questions were raised during his background investigation.

Tensions are increasing in the Persian Gulf as the Iran war hawks seem to be winning the battle for the President’s support.

The Trump Administration continues to misstate what the DPRK agreed to regarding its nuclear program. That’s why talks between the two nations are stalled.

While the American media was paying attention to President travels and travails in Europe, there was another meeting taking place.

The DPRK sent a message to the United States over the weekend, but it’s unlikely the President was listening.

The White House claims to want to talk to Iran but the President’s actions make clear that negotiation is the furthest thing from his mind.

The Trump Administration is taking an unnecessarily militaristic approach toward Iran, and that poses real dangers for the country and for the Middle East.

The Trump Administration’s policies toward Iran aren’t going to work, but that’s because they aren’t supposed to work.

A very strange campaign trail gambit from India’s prime minister.

The legendary figure was in charge of strategic forecasting at the Pentagon for decades.

The Trump Administration still doesn’t have realistic goals for its negotiations with North Korea.

In the wake of the failure of the Hanoi Summit to reach any agreement at all, North Korea appears to be returning to old form.

Once again, President Trump gets taken for a sucker by the North Koreans.

And a link to a worthwhile read.

In the end, the reason the Hanoi Summit failed is because the Trump Administration is pursuing an unattainable goal.

The second summit between President Trump and Kim Jong Un ended early without any kind of agreement, signalling that no real progress has been made in talks between the two countries.

President Trump and Kim Jong Un hold their second summit in Hanoi later this week, but it’s unlikely anything significant will happen.

The Trump Administration continues to drive a wedge between the United States and Europe, can it ever be repaired?

The date and location of the next summit between President Trump and Kim Jong Un have been set, but it’s hard to see what can really be accomplished.

The American withdrawal from the I.N.F. Treaty gives Vladimir Putin exactly what he wants.

As threatened late last year, the Trump Administration has withdrawn from the Intermediate=Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. This is a mistake.

President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will meet again in February, but it’s hard to see why.

In his annual message, Kim Jong Un sent a message to President Trump on denuclearization and the future of the Korean Peninsula.