Written by Caitlin Johnstone; Originally appeared at her blog
A second summit meeting for the US and North Korea is reportedly scheduled to take place in Vietnam at the end of the month. Expert opinions on where these negotiations are headed range from the insightful to the incredibly naive, with mainstream media consumers consistently finding themselves in the latter category. Trump supporters believe their president is going to pull off some Art of the Deal wizardry and convince Pyongyang to completely denuclearize, and mainstream Democrats believe Trump is being foolish, facilitating the nefarious agendas of an evil dictator. As happens with pretty much all US foreign policy issues these days, the picture is completely obscured by the mass media’s obsessive fixation on Trump.
People who are well-informed tend to say that North Korea will never denuclearize, mainly because its government has no meaningful incentive to do so in a world where Muammar Gaddafi was murdered in the streets as a direct result of US regime change interventionism shortly after relinquishing Libya’s nuclear program. As bad as western sanctions are, they’re nothing compared to what happened to Libya.
I agree that Pyongyang as we have known it will never denuclearize, no matter how charming or threatening Moon and Trump get. There can certainly be peace between the Koreas, but the notion that Pyongyang as we know it will just give up the DPRK’s nuclear weapons is a fairy tale for children and mental midgets. Those words “Pyongyang as we know it” are key, though. There are circumstances under which North Korea could voluntarily give up its nukes, be relieved of sanctions, and be treated like a normal nation by the unipolar world order in the near term. They’re just not circumstances any of us should want.
North Korea isn't going to denuclearize, and it shouldn't have to. The DPRK having nukes is just the natural consequence of US imperialism. The only way it'll denuke is if it allows itself to be bullied into joining the blob of the empire, and nobody should want that.
— Caitlin Johnstone ⏳ (@caitoz) February 8, 2019
The way I see it there are approximately three possibilities:
- North Korea keeps its nukes as an effective deterrent against regime change interventionism,
- North Korea relinquishes its nukes because the US and all rivals have relinquished their nukes, or
- North Korea relinquishes its nukes because it entered into the US-centralized power alliance.
The only way North Korea will be treated normally by the unipolar world order is if it joins that unipolar world order. If it allows itself to be absorbed into the blob of the US-centralized empire. If North Korea denuclearizes, that is what will have happened, and that has always been the ultimate goal of the pressures that have been stacked upon it. If Kim Jong-Un is sufficiently different from his predecessors, and if he is presented with the right combination of carrots and sticks, who knows? North Korea has $10 trillion worth of natural resources that it can’t access or sell due to sanctions, and you may be sure there are powerful people in both the east and the west courting Pyongyang to get that wealth into their pockets. Maybe Kim’s power base could be persuaded to consent to relinquishing the DPRK’s sovereignty like so many nations before (including my own) and join the blob to relieve the pressure.
But what would that mean, exactly? It would mean that one more nation which tried to insist on its national sovereignty was bullied and starved into joining the US-centralized empire to survive. The empire would be one nation more, and the remaining unabsorbed multipolarist governments would be one nation less.
The reality is that it is impossible to be truly anti-war without opposing the unipolar global dominance of the United States and its tight network of allies which operates functionally as an empire. It is impossible for this empire to remain dominant without the threat and enforcement of military violence; the carrot of military alliance and the stick of military assault are the glue which holds the empire together. The world can never know peace while this is happening. If you support the continued world dominance of the United States, you can perhaps claim to be against some wars on a case-by-case basis, but you cannot claim to be anti-war or anti-interventionist.
probably the dumbest headline ever on venezuela. pretty sure any leader of any country would threaten to kill soldiers of an invading force. https://t.co/XRFXVntfBB
— Whitney Webb (@_whitneywebb) February 8, 2019
With Venezuela it’s the same as with North Korea: the US-centralized power alliance is bullying a noncompliant nation in a key strategic region into allowing itself to be absorbed into the blob of an empire that is held in place with endless violence. Of course I fully support the sovereign right of the people of Venezuela to shape their nation in accordance with their will, but the Trump administration’s regime change interventionism there has nothing whatsoever to do with the will of the Venezuelan people. The Guaido pretend government that the US is working to install has been built by the engineers of imperialism from the ground up to ensure a Venezuela that is loyal to US interests, which John Bolton himself acknowledges have a lot to do with oil.
If the US succeeds in disrupting the lives of Venezuelans so much that the military shifts alignment and ousts Maduro in desperation, sure the sanctions will end, and maybe things will be better for some (mostly white, wealthier) Venezuelans, but ultimately what will have happened is the empire succeeded in bullying another sovereign nation into relinquishing its sovereignty.
Same with Iran. If Bolton’s crew succeeds in securing regime change in Tehran, the mainstream narrative is that it will mean freedom and democracy and the wind in women’s hair, but what it will primarily mean in reality is that the US-centralized empire succeeded in toppling yet another government of yet another oil-rich nation and installing a puppet regime to complement its Israeli and Gulf state allies, thereby shoring up regional dominance in the Middle East. From there we may be certain that Syria will suffer the same fate.
Anyone who sees that war is wrong should oppose this tooth and claw. The continued growth of the unipolar blob is a movement away from a world of peace and national sovereignty and towards a world of endless military violence enforcing the depraved will of the same thugs who inflicted unforgivable horrors on Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and so many other nations.
Generals who served there now admit the War in Afghanistan has been lost and the entire effort was pointless https://t.co/cORKlJHCfH pic.twitter.com/hB4LvBht05
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) February 8, 2019
The way to prevent nuclear war with North Korea is to leave North Korea alone, stop sanctioning them and stop threatening them. The way to help the people of Venezuela is to end the sanctions which are starving them. The way to help the people of Iran is to end the CIA covert ops and starvation sanctionsand stay the hell out of their country. The way to help Syrians is to stop arming and protecting the extremist militias who tried to topple Damascus, end the sanctions, end the illegal occupation, and respect the nation’s sovereignty. The way to advance peace is to oppose the institution that has done more to undermine peace than anyone else in the world, namely the US empire.
Of course we should want everyone to be free from oppression, and of course we should want the world to be free of nuclear weapons. But we shouldn’t support the toppling of foreign governments by a power whose consistent record of disastrous regime change interventionism is established beyond a doubt, and we shouldn’t support that power in bullying sovereign nations into relinquishing their sovereignty to escape brutalization. That is not the kind of world we’re trying to create here. The bigger the warmongering imperial blob grows, the more powerful it gets. If you want a world full of peace and harmony, put your emphasis on opposing the toxic activities of the power most responsible for preventing it.
of course, I trust kim realizes that the destitute states of morons (aka usa) never forgets and never forgives so rest assured that kim jung un’s grandfather earned the wrath of the morons for eternity so he, un, should never ever give up his nukes, rather keep a close eye on them and be ready to use them post haste. one issue in the ongoing negotiations is that kim should demand reparation compensation for the destruction the destitute states of morons wantonly caused during the korean war, just because kim’s grandfather wouldn’t agree to have sung man rhee inserted as head of state.
and on venezuela, the morons have a long line of ruinous wars/regime change operations over the last twenty years so they, the morons that is, need something to make them forget afghanistan, iraq, syria, ukraine and so on and so forth so. deluded as they are, they thought venezuela would be a walk in the park – and how fecking mistaken they are but that is entirely in line with the incompetence being on display at every layer of the bureaucracy in washington dc.
what a larf they are the morons!
Gweedo assured the inept alcoholic Bolton that he’d have the military with him, and the blithering idiot believed him, so now the U.S. has dug a hole for itself that’ll be difficult to climb out of- after failures in Afghanistan and Syria, and disaster in Libya, Americans have no appetite for another one in Venezuela, and sanctions to force Maduro out won’t work either. NK will never forget the way the U.S. conducted its 1950-53 war, vaporising whole villages with women and children in a failed attempt at “shock and awe”. Trump is desperate for a “deal” and KJ Un will play him for all it’s worth, but NK will keep its nukes… in one form or another.
ain’t that the truth and poor old donny is flailing and having no traction whatsoever – what a larf
The problem is that both major political parties in the U.S. are anti- Maduro, including the hypocrite Pelosi. Who knows… perhaps Trump had a point when he said that the world would already be at war if Hillary got in. A depressing story is U.S. politics.
If voters would STOP listening to snake oil psychopathic salesman such as our politicians and looked at their DONOR list instead they would know immediately what that politician supports and which billionaire. Sheldon Adelson Israhelli billionaire bankrolled Trump’s campaign for 124 million. All of his moves to please the Zionist mafia for whom he works..his pathetic AIPAC speech and the SOTU speech a sickening tribute to JEWS, the holohoax and the military. Bolton, Kushner, ABRAMS A FELON who lied to Congress & who never should have secured another gov. position in his life, Ivanka, GREENBLATT, mnuchin are ALL DUAL Israhelli’s working on behalf of a foreign government and all should have to register as foreign agents.. What a neocon/neoliberal SHITSHOW this really is. Do Americans have the stomach for millions of refugees fleeing their Homeland to America? For a war that will kill millions so the Zionist mafia steals the spouls and splits among their Zionist billionaire selves? When will Americans wake the fuck up and stop voting criminals into power? Are these psychopaths a reflection of US? If so we are in deep shit
The only way NK will give up its nukes is to transfer them to China… temporarily. After failing in Syria and Afghanistan, and with his China trade war backfiring badly, Trump is desperate for a deal to save his presidency… and a face-saver with KJ Un could be on the cards.
If they do they be very stupid and not in touch with reality and I dont think they are either of the two.
How so? Trump is after more than just the same photo op as last time, and NK wouldn’t mind the end of sanctions. It comes down to who is more desperate for a deal- Trump or KJ Un, and I suspect it’s the former. Maybe KJ will give up some nukes and hide his best ones in a secure basement, maybe he’ll involve China in some way… but he’d be a fool to trust the U.S., and a fool he isn’t.
and you think China will jeopardize their trade with the west by accepting the nukes of NK?
If it’s part of a deal, trade won’t be jeopardised.
We are NOT China’s number one trading partner. China can live and thrive without US Zionist psychopathic billionaires..China has a surplus on trade war right now. Tariffs = tax upon the American taxpayer to generate revenue lost from Trump’s tax heist for the rich last year. These tariffs have ZEro to do with china
the ones who are desperate are not the NK. You are falling for the western propaganda, base on your comments. NK are very far fro desperate and as far the sanctions go whose keeping them, of the ones who was trading and still do with NK? Especially russians and chinese.
NK as well Iran to mention few have been attack with this fashion for decades and they dont seem to slow down on the contrary. Maybe is time all to understand that 1/7 of the population of earth that is US/EU, are not representing the rest of the 6/7 and their markets are not only healthy but 6 times bigger than them and lately dont really give a sh*t what americans and english demand, or their minions and satellites.
You obviously can’t read English, or are just a pathetic liar.
I read very well english kid, unlike you who obviously dont think and put the dots together. Is ok keep trying.
Trump just flaps his gums, and has no real input into long term US foreign policy. What the US is scared of, is reunification, and being told to fukoff. Most South Koreans want the US gone, you can’t win an election in SK without pledging to kick the yankee dogs out. But the US has never cared what others want, so it’s up to China to crush the US economically.
Give up their nukes in exchange for China pledging to defend NK against a US invasion with Chinese nukes, maybe. But the US will back down, they backed with India and Pakistan, they are prostitutes, enough money and they would sleep with animals.
nah china would just hold on to them and never return them. so the best is to hide the ones he got and develop a few new and better ones (possibly together with china, some nice and highly efficient ones for the moronistan mainland)
If Maduro is killing Americans on our soil in Venezuela, we have the right to defend ourselves.
Good point – and our soil is where we say ist is…
As he should since US is the invader. Maybe a few body bags coming home to America would wake up Americans to Jew wars for Israhell
Give them Hell,if they dare invade.
and then some.
The Bolshevik Jews starved millions of Russians and their neighbors to death. The US, French and British ziocon Jews and their sycophants are applying the same policies to Venezuela. To starve Venezuelans into submission. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vGkPNsnpnRk/maxresdefault.jpg
The Americans starved millions of Russians and their neighbors to death.
That’s a huge lie. Try proving it.
Not really! There was food, but the bolshevik militias directed by Lazar Kaganovich carried away food stores and destroyed what was left. They also murdered them by the tens of thousands, the descriptions are quite ghastly. No one was allowed to leave, so millions starved.
The Trump administration, US, French and British Jews are trying to repeat this crime against humanity. https://66.media.tumblr.com/af4091ad929721f5156baa53a76f9a17/tumblr_inline_ni1j461YH51t69njr.png
Even back then the US would not allow the Soviets to buy food from other countries. So in reality America is guilty of the crime in your pic.
The Soviets were exporting food, just the British in Ireland. US imports would have been diverted if they had been acquired and wouldn’t have lowered the death count.
Yep .
Take a read of Michael Hudson’s interview with the Saker, in which he discusses exactly how the US uses its control of global financial mechanisms to lay siege to any country that dares assert independence from the US foreign policy line. https://michael-hudson.com/2019/02/venezuela-as-the-pivot-for-new-internationalism/ And he even suggests what we can do to reduce their power!!!!! Read it!
“the sovereign right of the people of Venezuela to shape their nation in accordance with their will” That is precisely the first thing that ended when Hugo Chavez imposed “Socialism of the 21st century” in Venezuela. I read the article because of the attention grabbing headline. Reading the comments in the blog made me realize that this a site for the uber-alt-Left. I always enjoy deconstructing the Left’s dogma and to do so I have to fully understand how your brains work (or not). So I thought of reading ALL your comments. After I read 25-30 of them I realized I could summarize the “ideas” contributed by all the comments I read, and probably even by all the comments in the blog, in one long paragraph. The lack of critical thinking here is dismal, and the lack of originality appalling. You guys live in an incestuous intellectual bubble in which you don’t allow in any idea or reasoning that departs from your liturgy, you immediately flag it as heresy, and by doing so you all end up preaching to a choir. Don’t bother replying to me, I won’t be returning to this block to read your replies (which I expect all to look pretty much the same), soo…. – Se ya’, wouldn’t wanna be ya’ –
Another Trumptard triggered by socialism. Has ZERO to do with the Jewish Zionist mafia gang tactics on Venezuela. Sanctions, freezing of assets, gold stolen by Zionist led Bank of England. Chavez did much for his country and it’s people by sharing oil wealth with them. Trumptards love throwing socialism around as to why MADURO must go making them regime change screamers whogive fuck all about what the Venezuelan people want, while in the mean time their tax dollars go to support Israhelli sociopathic settler universal healthcare and FREE college education. And socialism for their Jew overlords. Hypocrites.