April 18, 2018

Weekly World News Update

Trump-Abe Summit; U.S.-North Korea Relations; Syrian War; Germany as an Outlier; Castro's Successor

Quote of the Week

"Barbara Bush was a fabulous First Lady and a woman unlike any other who brought levity, love, and literacy to millions."

-- President George W. Bush, in a statement following the death of former First Lady Barbara Bush on Tuesday.

Developments in U.S.-North Korea Relations

"CIA Director Pompeo Met with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un over Easter Weekend" Shane Harris; Carol Leonnig; Greg Jaffe; David Nakumara -- The Washington Post, April 18, 2018

"North Korea Is Changing" Richard Javad Heydarian -- Al Jazeera, April 18, 2018

"Unpacking a U.S. Decision to Engage North Korea: What It Entails and What It Could Achieve" Carla Freeman and Mel Gurtov -- 38 North, April 16, 2018

Presidents Trump and Abe Meet Again

"The Trump-Abe Summit: More than Meets the Eye" James Schoff and Feng Lin -- The Diplomat, April 16, 2018

"Tokyo's Awakening on Trump" J. Berkshire Miller and Irina Angelescu -- The National Interest, April 17, 2018

"How Shinzo Abe Can Help Trump Understand Kim" Ronald Tiersky -- RealClear World, April 18, 2018

"Shinzo Abe, Pursued by Scandal" Sarah Birke -- The New York Review of Books, April 17, 2018

The Increasingly Protracted Syrian War

"The Hypocrisy of Trump's 'Mission Accomplished' Boast About Syria" Robin Wright -- The New Yorker, April 14, 2018

"Back to Brinkmanship" Jacob Heilbrunn -- The National Interest, April 17, 2018

"Four Essential Elements of a U.S. Strategy on Syria" Michael O'Hanlon -- Brookings Institution, April 17, 2018

"Iran's Real Enemy in Syria" Karim Sadjadpour -- The Atlantic, April 16, 2018

"Breaking the Turkey-U.S. Deadlock in Syria" Galip Dalay -- German Marshall Fund, April 16, 2018

"How Syria Came to This" Andrew Tabler -- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, April 15, 2018

Germany: The Outlier

"Germany's No-Go Foreign Policy" Judy Dempsey -- Carnegie Europe, April 17, 2018

"Better Empty Worlds than Empty Bullets" Marcel Furstenau -- Deutsche Welle, April 16, 2018

"Germany Is Becoming More Open and More Diverse" Editorial Board -- The Economist, April 14, 2018

Choosing Castro's Successor

"We Shouldn't Ignore Cuba" Christopher Sabatini -- The New York Times, April 17, 2018

"Raul Castro's Report Card" Lucia Newman -- Al Jazeera, April 18, 2018