TRUMP POLICIES - Kim/Trump Marrygoround

"North Korea’s Kim promises ‘denuclearization,’ but where does diplomacy stand?" PBS NewsHour 1/1/2019

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SUMMARY:  Six months after a landmark summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un seemed to keep the two nations from the precipice of war, Kim says North Korea won't make, test or give away nuclear weapons -- plus he's ready to meet Trump again.  Victor Cha of the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Jenny Town of online policy journal 38 North discuss with Amna Nawaz.

TRUMP AGENDA - Iran Nuclear Deal

Increased U.S. world political isolation.

"How Iran might respond to U.S. withdrawing from the nuclear deal" PBS NewsHour 5/8/2018

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SUMMARY:  From nuclear deal to no deal, President Trump on Tuesday made good on his vow to get out of the 2015 agreement with Iran -- his predecessor’s signature foreign policy achievement.  Nick Schifrin looks back at Trump’s determination to derail the deal, and then joins William Brangham to discuss what happens in Iran now.

"Trump’s Iran deal announcement leaves ‘America alone,’ Sen. Kaine says" PBS NewsHour 5/8/2018

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SUMMARY:  President Trump's announcement that the U.S. is leaving the Iran nuclear deal is going to raise the risk of unnecessary war in the Middle East, says Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va).  A member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kaine also tells William Brangham that the decision has driven a wedge between the U.S. and European allies, and makes the U.S. weaker.

"Ehud Barak: Iran nuclear deal is bad, but Trump’s withdrawal not ‘optimal’" PBS NewsHour 5/8/2018

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SUMMARY:  President Donald Trump made good on his campaign promise Tuesday with the announcement that the U.S. would leave the Iran nuclear agreement.  But America’s exit does not cancel the deal altogether, Ehud Barak, the former Israeli Defense Minister and Prime Minister, told PBS NewsHour correspondent William Brangham.

Barak said he thought the 2015 agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, was “ a bad deal when it was made” — something Trump also said as he signed a memorandum terminating U.S. participation in the Iran agreement.

“But once it was signed it became a matter of fact,” Barak said, adding that he wasn’t sure Trump’s decision was the best way to make changes to the agreement, and that he believed the deal's six other signatories would stay in the pact.

Here are some other highlights from the interview, tied to the release of Barak's 2018 memoir, “My Country, My Life: Fighting for Israel, Searching for Peace.”

William Brangham (NewsHour):  The other thing that really comes through in your book is that Israel continues and must find some resolution to how it deals with the Palestinians.

As you well know, the government in Israel has very much right now a fortress Israel position.  Do you have any sense of hope that the resolution with the Palestinians will come?

Ehud Barak, former Prime Minister:  Yes, of course.  I have not just hope.  I’m quite confident it will happen.

The government of Israel, it’s a freely elected government.  It’s my government as well.  But I did dispute with them about what is good for the country, especially in the last three years, with Bibi more and more deeply diving into this mind-set of extreme pessimism, passivity, anxiety and self-victimizing mood, which is a quite good recipe for practical domestic politics, but very poor one for statesmanship.

I think that we are heading — beyond these daily events, we are heading into a direction which is clearly wrong.  The intention of this government, led and directed by extreme right, is to torpedo any possibility of separation or disengagement between us and the Palestinians.

This leads us basically into one state named Israel covering or reigning over the whole area from the Mediterranean to the River Jordan.  But that means, because we are 13 million people there, 6.5 million Jews and 6.5 million Arabs.

William Brangham :  Yes, the demographics are not in your favor.

Ehud Barak:  It means — yes, it means that it will end inevitably either non-Jewish or non-democratic.  Neither is
(INAUDIBLE).

And based on our successes, we — you know, founding of the state of Israel is the most successful national project of the 20th century.  We have a huge amount of achievements.

But, based on these achievements, we are the strongest country, and we can take our fate in our hands.  I am not caring about the Palestinians.  I am caring about our own identity, future, and security.

And our interests demand that we will disengage from the Palestinians, delineate a line within which we will have all our security interests, most of the settlers, and a solid Jewish majority for generations to come.

I always follow — I used to quote Robert Frost saying good fences make good neighbors.  And we need it in the Middle East.  Never lose the focus on the objective and on understanding.  Whether it takes time, more or less time, we will ultimately reach a normal situation in the Middle East.

KOREA - North Meets South

"North and South Korea make concessions toward ending hostilities" PBS NewsHour 4/30/2018

COMMENT:  This situation reminds me of something, the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Nuclear Weapons that could target the U.S. that leads to a pledge that the U.S. will not invade Cuba.  Did Kim Jong-un out diplomacy us.

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SUMMARY:  Days after a historic summit, there are signs of progress from both North and South Korea.  Pyongyang announced it will re-sync its time zone with South Korea's starting Saturday, while the South said it will remove the loudspeakers that blast propaganda into the North.  John Yang reports on the first steps both sides seem to be taking, and what U.S. officials are saying about the American role.

KOREA - The North-South Summit

"At summit, Kim Jong Un pledges to not repeat ‘unfortunate history’" PBS NewsHour 4/27/2018

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SUMMARY:  Kim Jong Un became the first North Korean leader to set foot in South Korea since the Korean War 65 years ago.  The official talks focused heavily on North Korea's nuclear weapons program.  President Moon Jae-in said that he and Kim shared the goal of ridding “the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons through complete denuclearization."  Judy Woodruff reports.

"Does denuclearization mean the same thing to North and South Korea?" PBS NewsHour 4/27/2018

Short answer, NO.

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SUMMARY:  The meeting between the leaders of the two Koreas along the heavily fortified border marked a day of diplomacy after months of war talk.  Judy Woodruff talks to former State Department official Frank Jannuzi, and Victor Cha of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, about the significance of the meeting and how it sets up the summit between Kim Jong Un and President Trump.

KOREA - The Defectors' View

"North Korean defectors regard historic summit with hope" PBS NewsHour 4/26/2018

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SUMMARY:  At a historic meeting on Friday, North Korea's dictator Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in will discuss the North's nuclear program, begin talks on officially ending the Korean War after 65 years, and lay the groundwork for a meeting between Kim and President Trump later this spring.  Special correspondent Katrina Yu reports.

TRUMP AGENDA - Macron vs Trump

REMINDER:  Trump only likes people who get on their knees and kiss Trump's........

"Can EU allies convince Trump to stay in the Iran nuclear deal?" PBS NewsHour 4/23/2018

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SUMMARY:  French President Emmanuel Macron is on what some have called "Operation Save the Iran Deal."  On a visit to the U.S., Macron will try to convince President Trump that the deal is working and that it's better to confront Iran while its nuclear program is frozen.  But Trump is vowing to pull out of the deal unless the U.S. and Europe can fix it to his specifications.  Nick Schifrin joins Amna Nawaz.

"Macron lobbies Trump to keep and improve Iran nuclear deal as ‘only way to bring about stability’" PBS NewsHour 4/24/2018

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SUMMARY:  In a state visit hosting the leader of America's oldest ally, the personal bond between President Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron was evident, and so were their differences over the Iran nuclear deal.  At a news conference, Macron said the U.S. should remain part of the deal, but hold talks to improve it, while Trump said he wants an entirely new agreement.  Yamiche Alcindor reports.

French President Macron addresses a joint session of Congress (1:20:24)

RUSSIA - Limits of Putin's Control

"Feud with the West bolsters Putin’s image, as tragic Siberian fire shows limits of his control" PBS NewsHour 3/30/2018

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SUMMARY:  American diplomats packed up at the U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg on Friday, another escalation in the current diplomatic crisis making Russia-U.S. relations more cloudy and dangerous than any point since the Cold War.  But while international tensions may strengthen President Vladimir Putin, Russia is also facing an internal crisis after a fire engulfed a shopping center.  Nick Schifrin reports.

THE NEW COLD WAR - Expulsion of Diplomats

"Russia vows Cold War-style retaliation over mass expulsion of diplomats" PBS NewsHour 3/26/2018

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SUMMARY:  Including the U.S., over a dozen countries announced expulsions on Monday of more than 100 Russian diplomats accused of being intelligence officials, in a united attempt to isolate and punish Russia for the alleged poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.  Nick Schifrin reports on the Trump administration’s measures, its harshest punishment of Russia to date.

"How will the global effort to expel diplomats affect Russia?" PBS NewsHour 3/26/2018

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SUMMARY:  Sixty Russian diplomats are being kicked out of the U.S. in a bid to punish the Kremlin for an attack on a former Russian spy in the UK.  Is that the right response?  Nick Schifrin gets reaction from two former State Department officials, Victoria Nuland of the Center for a New American Security and Paul Saunders of the Center for the National Interest.