The U.S. Department of State announces that the U.S.-China Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity Dialogue (LE&CD) will be held in Washington, DC, on October 4, 2017

AMBASSADOR BRANSTAD: (In progress) ambassador’s residence. My wife Chris and I are really honored and pleased to have Secretary of State Rex Tillerson her

Beijing and Washington do not want Iran or North Korea to possess nuclear weapons, test ballistic missiles, or engage in WMD proliferation. Despite their overlapping positions, the differences between the Trump and Xi administrations regarding these issues have been growing. Confidence-building and stability-enhancing measures could narrow these differences.

For years, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has come under fire for its supposed inefficacy and muted response to major flashpoints in its own backyard. Yet, the rekindled tension on the Korean Peninsula, which is threatening regional security across the Asia-Pacific region, has forced the regional body to take a tougher stance. ASEAN is in a unique position to facilitate the return of conflicting parties to the negotiating table.

Instead of repeating the same mistakes it made with North Korea’s nuclear program with Iran’s, the US should learn from them.

It is inaccurate to accuse Trump of breaking with decades of U.S. deterrence policy for his threat to totally destroy North Korea. He may have been more blunt than any of his predecessors since Eisenhower left office, but his warning of total destruction was merely an updated version of Ike’s massive retaliation doctrine—this time applied to North Korea instead of the Soviet Union.

North Korea is one of the most insular countries in the world. That insularity is a curse for the long-suffering North Korean people, but an advantage for a sanction-based strategy, because only one country is needed to make it work: China.

The small Pacific country of Palau is a lynchpin in America’s security network. China can learn from this.

Why the international community should not celebrate the unanimous vote to impose tougher sanctions on North Korea: Pyongyang is not without options in responding to the sanctions. It is essential that the international community comes to grips with some very uncomfortable truths about the next phase of the North Korean crisis.

China is stuck between a rock and a hard place on North Korea, but any change in the country’s policy towards North Korea would require a fundamental change in China’s cost-benefit analysis of the current situation. More provocations by North Korea won’t change China’s policy, unless they are bound to lead to a war. Without understanding this crucial point, the world will continue to be disappointed by the insufficiency of the Chinese response.