Brief notes: North Korea

13 Feb  — Following the apparent breakthrough on restraining North Korea's nuclear development,  John Bolton is a "sad man" (interview on C4 News).  Really, there aren't many "neo-cons" left in the Bush administration.  Apart from Cheney. 

Hazel Smith of Warwick University summed it up just about right,  citing 3 factors:  the current moderation on the part of the US administration;  China's deep annoyance about North Korea's test last year;  and counter-intuitively,  she says,  North Korea and the US are not ideological enemies - in comparison to Iran (BBC Radio 4,  The World Tonight,  again 13 Feb).