Opinion - The Korea Times

Can America recover?

By Troy StangaroneOn the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, I was sitting in a windowless office in the Senate Dirksen Office Building unaware of what was happening in New York City. On a normal day I would have headed out shortly to go pick up Senator Robert G. Torricelli and bring him to the Senate, but instead, our office would soon be evacuated due to concern that the Capitol building could be a target. After living through that day and having worked in a symbol of American democracy, it was painful to watch the U.S. Capitol ransacked on Jan. 6 not by terrorists or some foreign power, but rather my own fellow Americans at the instigation of the president. It was something that I could not have imagined seeing in my lifetime. The images broadcast live to the world captured in a way nothing else could the damage that has been done to the U.S. and American democracy over the last four years.But those same images symbolize the damage done not just to the U.S. and its democracy, but to the alliances that the U.S. carefully constructed after World War II, as well as the international instituti

Jan 31, 2021By Troy Stangarone

Troy Stangarone

Green policies should promote renewable energy abroad

By Troy StangaroneEarlier this month world leaders gathered for the U.N. Climate Ambition Summit. The virtual summit marked the fifth anniversary of the Paris Climate Accord and provided leaders an opportunity to pledge additional carbon reduction commitments at a time when the previously scheduled COP26 in the United Kingdom was postponed until next year due to COVID-19. The United States and China are by far the world's largest emitters of CO2, but South Korea is the world's eighth-largest emitter of carbon, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. South Korea's relatively large carbon footprint is a result of an economy built around carbon intensive industries such as automobiles, steel, and petrochemicals. To meet global goals for carbon reduction necessary to keep temperature increases below 1.5 degrees Celsius the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that the world average price for carbon will need to rise from a global average of $2 across various tax and emission trading schemes to $75 by 2030. This has significant implications for South Korea's carbon intense

Dec 27, 2020By Troy Stangarone

Troy Stangarone

North Korea and President-elect Biden's foreign policy

By Troy StangaroneWhen Joe Biden is sworn in as president on Jan. 20 he will assume the presidency in the midst of a global pandemic that has taken the lives of more than a quarter million Americans and inherit an economy that is showing new signs of weakening.Managing the health and economic crises will be the administration's overriding priority, along with attempting to restore the faith in the U.S. government that has been lost under President Donald Trump.While the domestic focus of the new administration is clear, its foreign policy focus will be more complicated due to the lack of cooperation by the Trump administration in the transition. This failure to conduct a smooth transition will make foreign policy initially more complex, and could also make it more difficult for the Biden administration to engage in early talks with North Korea.After four years of Trump's “America first” foreign policy, a course correction is necessary. While foreign policy will need to play a complementary role to domestic policy early in the Biden administration, initial steps will need

Nov 26, 2020By Troy Stangarone

North Korea and President-elect Biden's foreign policy

Troy Stangarone

US election critical for Korea too

By Troy StangaroneRecord numbers of Americans have already taken advantage of early voting or cast their ballots by mail, while millions more will head to the polls in the next few days. The electoral choice they make will be the most consequential of their lifetimes, but it will also shape future U.S. policy on the Korean Peninsula as well.U.S. elections have always had significant implications for the Korean Peninsula. In 1976, Jimmy Carter announced that if elected he intended to withdraw U.S. troops from the Korean Peninsula, while George W. Bush came into office in 2001 skeptical of the Agreed Framework. Carter eventually backed down from his pledge to withdraw U.S. troops, but Bush would go on to leave the Agreed Framework and adopted a more confrontational approach to North Korea that conflicted with the Sunshine Policy. The case for Americans to change leadership is fairly clear cut, but the results are less clear for the U.S.-Korea alliance.After four years with Donald Trump as president, the United States is at a crossroads. In 2016, millions of Americans felt that the U.S.

Oct 28, 2020By Troy Stangarone

Troy Stangarone

Does 'October surprise' matter?

By Troy StangaroneOn July 5, 1945, British citizens went to the polls for the first time since 1935. Less than two months earlier the Allies had celebrated VE Day, an achievement that should have easily garnered incumbent Prime Minister Winston Churchill another parliament in 10 Downing Street. However, when the votes were counted the Labour Party had won a 145 seat majority and Clement Attlee was Prime Minister. The United Kingdom is not the United States, but Churchill's defeat in the aftermath of one of the most significant foreign policy successes of the 20th century highlights why foreign policy has minimal impact on elections. In the aftermath of the Second World War the election was fought on future of the country and issues such as unemployment and housing. It was domestic affairs rather than international affairs that was driving voters.Since the end of the Second World War a similar pattern has emerged in the United States with the economy the most salient issue for voters. The 1992 election helps to illustrate this. Similar to Churchill President George H.W. Bush had succe

Sep 24, 2020By Troy Stangarone

Troy Stangarone

Don't expect quick change with NK

By Troy StangaroneChanges in foreign affairs can seem to happen suddenly at times. Few would have imagined in July 1971 that Richard Nixon would announce he planned to visit China the following year. The announcement earlier this August that Israel and the United Arab Emirates would normalize relations also caught observers by surprise. With Donald Trump suggesting that he could strike a deal quickly with Kim Jong-un if he is re-elected, could a similar surprise with North Korea occur before or after the U.S. presidential election in November?In reality, neither the opening of U.S. relations with China that followed Nixon's 1972 visit nor the establishment of normal diplomatic relations between the UAE and Israel were as sudden as either seemed publicly. In the case of China, Washington and Beijing had gone a quarter century without formal relations and there were no signs that significant change was imminent. But changing the relationship was a priority for Nixon who began working from the beginning of his first term as president to establish a channel of communication with Beijing.

Aug 27, 2020By Troy Stangarone

Troy Stangarone

Rethinking US troop reduction

By Troy StangaroneIt shouldn't be surprising that the United States and South Korea have yet to reach an agreement on Seoul's contribution to the cost of stationing U.S. troops in South Korea given the way the talks have gone.Imagine if your insurance company sent you a notice that next year your policy was going to increase by more than 400 percent. We all expect prices to rise over time and are willing to pay reasonable increases, but an increase of 400 percent would be seen as completely unreasonable. In the case of an insurance policy, most individuals would simply find a new insurer that was willing to provide the same coverage at a more reasonable price. But alliances are different.Military alliances are a deeper relationship than an insurance policy. South Korea and the U.S. fought side by side during the Korean War, but also in Vietnam and they worked together to ensure the safety of shipping off the Horn of Africa.The alliance at its core is commitment by both countries to work together to ensure their national security and to lend military support should one of the allies f

Jul 29, 2020By Troy Stangarone

Troy Stangarone

American crises

By Troy StangaroneThe United States is in the midst of three crises that are undermining confidence at home and abroad.In recent years, the U.S. has suffered a slow decay of institutions. Key positions in government have been left unfilled and there has been a turn away from expertise to political ideology. The result has been an increasing unwillingness to listen to the experts that remain. That has left the U.S. more vulnerable to COVID-19.It has also amplified the inadequate response to coronavirus. Where Korea has had a systemic response to test, trace, and contain the virus, the United States has had a more ad-hoc response.The federal government abdicated its responsibility to coordinate a response and has given up the advantages that come from coordinating nationally. The result has been states bidding against each other for critical medical supplies, a patchwork of standards, and more than 122,000 deaths and counting.Economically, COVID-19 has brought to an end the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. In the first quarter GDP declined by 4.8 percent and second quarter n

Jun 24, 2020By Troy Stangarone

Troy Stangarone

Pandemic's impact on North Korea's trade with China

By Troy StangaroneNorth Korea's decision at the end of January to close its border with China likely minimized any outbreak of COVID-19 domestically, but it has also had a significant impact on its trade with China.The decision by the United Nations in 2016 and 2017 to impose wide ranging sanctions on sectors of North Korea's economy in response to Pyongyang's continued nuclear and ballistic missile tests significantly reduced North Korea's legitimate trade with the rest of the world, including China. But as nations began enforcing U.N. sanctions, China also became more critical for North Korea. By some estimates, it now accounts for 95 percent of North Korea's legitimate trade.Pyongyang's measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are eliminating much of what trade remained.In the first quarter, North Korea's exports to China declined by 79 percent compared to the same period in 2019. In March alone, North Korean exports to China were down 96 percent and only amounted to $616,000.The picture is only marginally better when it comes to imports. In the first quarter, North Korea's impo

May 26, 2020By Troy Stangarone

Pandemic's impact on North Korea's trade with China

Troy Stangarone

Need for COVID-19 humanitarian aid

By Troy StangaroneMore than 2.9 million people have contracted the coronavirus and over 207,000 have died as of April 27. The vast majority of those infections and deaths have been in the United States, Europe and China. While developing countries have so far been spared the worst of COVID-19, they often lack the resources needed to deal with the crisis and are seeing an increasing number of infections. A situation they share with many developed countries.One of the characteristics of this crisis has been the shortage of personal protective equipment. In the United States, individuals have been encouraged to make their own face masks at home. Similarly, the United Kingdom would not have enough face masks if it required its citizens to wear them outside. Medical gowns and gloves have also been in short supply around the world.For those who contracted COVID-19 and are hospitalized ventilators are often required. In Italy, the shortage of ventilators forced doctors to make the difficult choice about who might be responsive to treatment and which patients should be sent home without care

Apr 27, 2020By Troy Stangarone

Troy Stangarone

Read more

Can America recover?

Green policies should promote renewable energy abroad

North Korea and President-elect Biden's foreign policy

US election critical for Korea too

Does 'October surprise' matter?

Don't expect quick change with NK

Rethinking US troop reduction

American crises

Pandemic's impact on North Korea's trade with China

Need for COVID-19 humanitarian aid

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