01.01.70

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has warned North Korea against moving forward with an anticipated new nuclear test that the Obama administration and its predecessors have failed to stop despite numerous pacts, sanctions and threats.

Kerry, who replaced Hillary Rodham Clinton last week, joined with South Korea and Japan in calling on the North to cease its “provocative behavior” or face “significant consequences from the international community” in a Feb. 3 statement.

But Korea watchers and experts say Kerry will need to raise far more specific threats to improve on the West’s history of making deals that North Korea rarely abides by for long.

“There’s a reluctance in the White House to have a deal with North Korea only to have it repudiated again,” said James Acton, an expert on nuclear non-proliferation at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“But President Obama knew Kerry’s interest in engagement when he nominated him, and presidents are usually willing to take greater risk in their second term,” he said Feb. 4.

Source: DefenseNews.com

by Sam Estenson

    The course so far has consisted of a lot of class discussion, some lecture, us getting to examine different types of high altitude strains of grain/bean/potato which our professor brought in (her specialty area is the Andean region), and watching and reading current news feeds or articles, all in Spanish.  I've enjoyed each day.  

Also, the Arts, Humanities, and Social Science Program has a new website.