Word: standoff
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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NORTH KOREA The Tantrum Continues After weeks of tough talk, President George W. Bush softened his position in hopes of resolving the nuclear standoff with North Korea. Bush said that if North Korea stopped making atomic weapons he would consider a "bold initiative" to provide energy and food to the country - the first time Washington has signaled its willingness to engage Pyongyang. A belligerent response, however, indicated that North Korea is not interested in retreating from the brinkmanship that has led it to kick out international nuclear inspectors and withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said...
...hard-line containment policy, though, would also erode Washington's moral credibility, putting the U.S. in the position of starving a country into submission. Even if the White House figures a way out of the current standoff without resorting to sanctions or military force, the U.S. may at some point have to face the prospect of outright confrontation. Administration officials concede that the White House may wind up engaging in a direct dialogue with the North Koreans, while never calling it that. But the U.S. will demand assurances that North Korea keep its commitments this time. If it doesn...
...stop playing nuclear brinkmanship. Instead, 2003 in South Asia has begun with both countries reassuring each other that destruction would be mutual. Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf had rung out the old year by boasting that he had forced India to back down during last year's tense standoff in Kashmir by threatening to go beyond conventional warfare. On Jan. 4, New Delhi responded by announcing it had established a command and control structure for its nuclear arsenal. Then, three days later, Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes further ratcheted up the belligerence when he bragged, "We can take a [nuclear...
...sides into talking instead of trading threats. For a start, he said, India should drop its refusal to negotiate with Pakistan until the latter stopped sponsoring Islamic militancy. Already embroiled in the Iraq and Korea crises, America is hoping Pakistan and India can avoid yet another nuclear standoff, at least for this year...
...Pyongyang closes down its nuclear program, U.S. allies in the region - most notably South Korea - are urging that Washington adopt a more flexible approach. That may cut against the administration's political instincts, but the president has strong grounds for stressing the potential for diplomatic efforts to resolve the standoff on the Korean peninsula. He tried on Friday to address the question of whether the same is true for Iraq by saying Saddam appears set on defying the will of the international community, which would leave the U.S. no choice but to invade. But it remains to be seen, later...