Despite the rise of China, the US remains the foremost guarantor of stability in the Pacific. ++ A debate is emerging in Australia about the wisdom of increasing the bond with Washington, but the idea of having to choose between China and the US is a false equivalency. ++ Australia has been able to increase ties with Beijing while standing by its traditional US allies, and other countries in the
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North Korean nuclear tests are symptoms of an unheralded threat: not the exertion of North Korean strength, but the prospective collapse of Kim Jong Il’s government. Weakness in Pyongyang could result in desperation, a WMD attack on the South, or full-on military engagement with Seoul. Drawing on this possibility of collapse, Robert D. Kaplan discusses opportunities for:
- Reconstruction and
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