The Limits of “Strategic Patience”

Issue & Policy Briefs December 6, 2010, No. 47

The Obama administration’s policy on North Korea has been declared “strategic patience,” or put
in more vulgar words “how to treat a spoiled child.” Essentially, it means that North Korea has to make the first move to reengage and that the U.S. will not grant Pyongyang any concessions – or to put it more directly, the U.S. and its allies, especially South Korea and Japan, will not continue to be blackmailed.

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