The War That Never Ends

http://www.counterpunch.org/2019/03/04/the-war-that-never-ends/
Date Written:  2019-03-04
Publisher:  CounterPunch
Year Published:  2019
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX23525

North Korean denuclearization is unlikely without concessions (such as sanctions relief) from the US side. How likely is the Trump administration to make such a deal?

Abstract: 
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Excerpt:

To think that standard imperialist "diplomacy" might be conducive to denuclearization, even at the hands of the ultimate "deal maker", is to indulge in sheer delusion. Shocking as it might be to the superpower mentality, the North Koreans have life-and-death interests at stake that cannot be finessed away or deferred to a future that might never arrive. If there are real prospects for Trump winning a Nobel Peace Prize, the U.S. will have to grant most or all of the following: a North-South peace treaty, immediate relaxation of economic sanctions, an end to war maneuvers, U.S. troop reductions in the South, negotiations over the "nuclear umbrella" that Washington says is needed to protect South Korea from Northern aggression.

Is the Trump administration actually prepared to negotiate these issues? Could denuclearization – stripping away what most shields North Korea from regime change – be achieved as a product of imperial manipulation? To date the U.S. has shown little indication it is ready to yield anything substantial, even where concessions (notably sanctions relief) would not be too difficult or costly. Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have held out a few minor inducements, but little of immediate value.