Diplomacy

The United States attends National Dialogues, often referred to as just simply dialogues, with foreign nations to discuss the terms of foreign relations between the two countries. Normally, these dialogues happen annually as a one-on-one between the United States and the other country, however, the most recent dialogues have been postponed one year due to COVID-19. The overarching purpose of these dialogues are to assess the past of the countries’ relationship, and evaluate and organize the future of the relationship and how they can improve moving forward. On September 12th, 2022, the Vietnam-United States Defense Policy Dialogue was held in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Kim Jong-Un’s 2017 threat to “bring nuclear clouds to the Japanese archipelago”[1] shocked the world and forced Japan to recognize that their small, North Korean neighbor was a significant threat to the safety of their country, and they meant business. Though North Korean missile tests began as early as 1993, fears of an aggressive North Korea have only grown as they have advanced their military capabilities, even showing that they had the capability of striking as far as the United States in 2017. Recent tests in May of 2019 have shown that North Korea is not content with their arsenal and is willing to use force to achieve their goals. This is especially troubling for Japan, who is one of North Korea’s closest neighbors, and has little of its own military power. Their proximity and history of conflict and grievances puts a target on the back of the Japanese for North Korean aggression.

Pakistan and India have been disputing over the Kashmir region since 1947. Currently India controls approximately 45% of the region, Pakistan controls some 35%, and China controls about 20% (Hunt). The main disputes and hot conflicts, however, have remained between India and Pakistan, with 3 wars and numerous conflicts since 1947. This conflict is often neglected when considering national security, but poses a potential serious issue to the US. The United States maintains bilateral relationships with both countries, and war between them could pose a diplomatic disaster.