Tom on KnoxNews today

Pre-emptive regime change: China's turn

North Korea's Kim Jong Il rattled his nuclear saber one time too many with his recent underground testing of a crude device. Now he's really got a superpower mad, one that can seriously do something about it.

No, I'm not talking about the United States. America's continuing military tie-down in Iraq rules out any substantial military action on our part. Given our performance post-Saddam, this news is clearly welcomed in both Pyongyang and Seoul, with the latter being scared witless at the prospect of paying any post-Kim reconstruction bill. [read more]

Comments

[TM Lutas]

The #1 preferred scenario for the PRC is to have N. Korea become Moldova, a separate country still from its ethnic brother state next door but friendly to the nearby great power and relatively sane and dependent on the great power neighbor. This isn't a bad scenario for the US and the S. Korea elite is certainly willing to forego the obligation of integration a la Germany.

But can N. Korea be Moldovanized without a separatist crisis? Russia keeps its hand in Moldova because Moldova depends on Russian gas to keep warm and it's the nearest big market, Romania being too poor to pull Moldova entirely into its orbit. But Russia also has had troops and a separatist region that can screw up Moldova's integration chances any time they feel like it via the trans-dniestr separatists. The current servile status of Moldova can be seen in current negotiations to reopen Russian markets to Moldovan agricultural exports.

[Mark in Texas]

Dr.Barnett mentions military relations with China as a good thing that is not beig pursued sufficiently.

But the US and NATO are engaging with Russia in a missile defense exercise right now. When this exercise is over, perhaps the US and Russia could participate with China, Japan and South Korea in another missile defense exercise.