North Korea

Happy Birthday, Dear Leader

The 4 wild ways North Koreans are celebrating Kim Jong Il's 69th (or 70th).

FEBRUARY 16, 2011

Kim Jong Il's Missiles

As Obama dithers, North Korea is only getting more dangerous. It's time to cut a deal.

BY JOEL WIT | JANUARY 20, 2011

New Year's Resolutions for World Leaders

What Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin, and Hu Jintao should be promising to do in 2011 -- but probably won't.

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | DECEMBER 30, 2010

Can North Korea Change?

Pyongyang's new ruler-in-waiting has many hoping for Chinese-style reforms in the world's last Stalinist state. But will the Kim family ever open up? We'd better hope so.

BY PETER M. BECK | DECEMBER 30, 2010

Thank God It's Over

Before we say say goodbye to 2010, a look back at the year's achievements and disasters, natural and otherwise.

DECEMBER 27, 2010

The Guns of December

It's about time South Korea started shooting back.

BY EDWARD LUTTWAK | DECEMBER 21, 2010

How to Stop the Next Korean War

For the first time in decades, a real war on the Korean Peninsula is possible.

BY ANDREI LANKOV | DECEMBER 16, 2010

Time to Get Serious About North Korea

Obama's policy of ignoring Pyongyang is a proven failure. It's time to try a different strategy.

BY JOEL WIT | DECEMBER 13, 2010

Planet Gulag

The world has many Liu Xiaobos. Here are 15 who matter.

TEXT BY FREEDOM HOUSE | DECEMBER 9, 2010

Harbinger or Hoax: The First Painting of Kim Jung Un?

What does a mysterious North Korean image tell us about its next leader?

BY RÜDIGER FRANK | DECEMBER 9, 2010

China Help with North Korea? Fuggedaboutit!

Dear pundits: Stop begging Beijing to rein in Kim Jong Il. It ain’t gonna happen.

BY AIDAN FOSTER-CARTER | NOVEMBER 26, 2010

Delusion Points

Don't fall for the nostalgia -- George W. Bush's foreign policy really was that bad.

BY STEPHEN M. WALT | NOVEMBER 8, 2010

Obama's Asian Tour

Washington may have just gotten a lot less friendly for the president, but he still has plenty of fans in Asia. A look at where he's going, who he's meeting, and what it means.

BY JARED MONDSCHEIN, ANDREW SWIFT | NOVEMBER 5, 2010

From Russia With Blood

C.J. Chivers talks with Foreign Policy about the Kalashnikov, the world's real weapon of mass destruction.

INTERVIEW BY CHARLES HOMANS | OCTOBER 15, 2010

A Puzzle in Pyongyang

Kim Jong Un's ascension in North Korea poses as many questions as it answers.

BY RÜDIGER FRANK | OCTOBER 8, 2010

The Son Also Rises

On Sept. 27, Kim Jong Un was named to a lofty post in North Korea's army, presumably in preparation to succeed his father as the country's ruler. FP looks at the world's autocrats-in-training who are waiting to take over their fathers' regimes.

BY JOSHUA KEATING AND CHARLES HOMANS | SEPTEMBER 28, 2010

Six Mysteries of North Korea’s Succession Drama

As Kim Jong Il starts looking for the exit, false predictions and wild rumors abound. Need some help sorting through them?

BY ROBERT CARLIN , JOEL WIT | SEPTEMBER 13, 2010

Reactor Reaction

An Iranian nuclear reactor will start operating in a few days. But Israel probably won't be bombing it.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | AUGUST 18, 2010

How Does the CIA Know If Its Intel Is Any Good?

Common sense, mostly.

BY CHARLES HOMANS | JULY 26, 2010

This Week at War: China's Foolish Fight Over the Yellow Sea

What the four-stars are reading -- a weekly column from Small Wars Journal.

BY ROBERT HADDICK | JULY 23, 2010

Angle of Defection

Was Shahram Amiri's return to Iran politically motivated, or was he just miserable?

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | JULY 16, 2010

12 Degrees of Failure

How does a weak state become a failed state?

JULY/AUGUST 2010

Postcards from Hell

Images from the world's most failed states.

CAPTIONS BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | JULY/AUGUST 2010

The Worst of the Worst

Bad dude dictators and general coconut heads.

BY GEORGE B.N. AYITTEY | JULY/AUGUST 2010

Hapless Doesn't Mean Harmless

Burma has a nuclear program. It's a mess, but it's still a nuclear program.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | JUNE 14, 2010

China's Cheonan Dilemma

We take it for granted that North Korea is dependent on China, but key parts of China are dependent on North Korea as well.

BY DREW THOMPSON | JUNE 7, 2010

Zoopolitics

How caged animals became a tool of statecraft.

BY CHARLES HOMANS | MAY 26, 2010

Goodbye Sunshine

South Korea has officially accused Kim Jong Il's regime of committing an act of war. Now comes the hard part.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | MAY 21, 2010

Inspector in Chief

From steel foundries to goat farms to co-ops and tool factories, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is fond of surveying the development of his country's numerous industries.

APRIL 19, 2010

Multiple Personality Disorder in Pyongyang

Yes, Kim Jong Il's still in charge. But intrigue at the top is heating up, which may explain some of the bizarre behavior coming out of North Korea these days.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | APRIL 19, 2010