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North Korea-Russia Rapprochement: A Setback for a Non-Nuclear Korea?

Through the second half of the twentieth century, North Korea’s communist regime managed to survive in large part thanks to the backing of its key ally, the USSR. Post-Cold War Russia later modified its position toward its old Cold War ally, and bilateral relations became damaged when the then-USSR established diplomatic ties with South Korea in 1990.

Do not let the Helsinki conference on a Mideast WMD-Free Zone fall off the “to-do” list

If Russia, the UK, and the US – as the co-conveners of the Helsinki conference on a WMD-Free Zone in the Middle East – had a priority list of foreign policy agenda items, convening such a conference would likely be hidden somewhere on pages 4 or 5 of a double-sided document, printed in 11 pt. Calibri font. Even among key stakeholders, the mounting crises in the region might reduce the diplomatic impetus for convening the conference, at least within the intended deadline of “as soon as possible” and certainly before the 2015 NPT Review Conference.

What’s ahead for the United States and the United Kingdom?

Tomorrow the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee will host a hearing on the P5+1 negotiations with Iran. Witnesses will include Wendy Sherman, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and the U.S.’ lead negotiator on the Iran nuclear talks, and David Cohen, the Treasury Department's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. Last weekend the six-month deadline (July 20th) for the interim Joint Plan of Action passed without a final deal being reached.