Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk WASHINGTON – The standoff on the Korean peninsula is entering a new phase. While President Moon Jae-In calls for talks with North Koreans, he is also honoring the U.S.-Korean alliance and insisting the North give up its nuclear program. Can Moon have it both ways? He’s besieged by protesters […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Nearly six hundred years ago, huge Chinese fleets plied the Indian Ocean sailing as far as Arabia and the East African coast. The epic seaborne expeditions carried out between 1405 and 1432 under Adm. Cheng Ho and during the glorious Ming Dynasty were larger and […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk WASHINGTON ― We hear so often about tight U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia that we forget the Saudis kicked out the last U.S. troops in the early 2000’s. Seems they regarded the U.S. presence as an affront to Islam more than a decade after U.S. forces drove Saddam Hussein’s […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler NEW YORK — We have seen this movie before and it never ends well. An arrogant and boastful dictator snubs the world and threatens his neighbors. The international community frets in rightful indignation but does little to respond. As tensions rise, the world appears hostage to a bully. […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Sol W. Sanders Marcus Wolf, “the man without a face”, infamous East German intelligence operative who once put a Communist spy into West German Chancellor Willy Brandt’s bed, has commented pithily on Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Wolf doubts Putin lived in Dresden for 15 years as liaison between the Soviet […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk WASHINGTON – Pro-Northers have got to be more than a little disappointed by the recent summit between the presidents of the Republic of Korea and the United States. Judging from all the blather they were emitting before the summit, the pro-North crowd would have far rather seen President Moon […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to the USA not quite knowing what to expect from planned summit meetings with President Donald Trump. After all while both leaders are known as brash and outspoken figures, the visitor from New Delhi was particularly nervous over trade […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk WASHINGTON – The good news about President Moon Jae-In’s summitry with President Donald Trump this week is they’re talking as partners in the drive to end North Korea’s nuclear program and bring about inter-Korean reconciliation. A major barrier to cooperation, however, is loose talk about a peace treaty or […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — In an impassioned appeal to the media, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres decried the rising tide of refugees worldwide, but advised that ultimately political solutions to the crises remain the key to stem the tide creating chaotic human displacements. While more than 65 million people […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk The death of Otto Warmbier provides a powerful reminder of the torture and terrorism perpetrated by one of the world’s most repressive regimes. Americans are no doubt aware of the tyranny of the dynasty led by a man who revels in ordering the development of long-range missiles capable of […]
