World Order: Recent Developments

[elysepopplewell]

NORTH KOREA CASE STUDY

If you're hoping to keep an eye on the continual events regarding North Korea:

There's a news story here about new sanctions the US has announced on two North Korean officials behind the missile program.

"The steps were the latest in a campaign aimed at forcing North Korea – which has defied years of multilateral and bilateral sanctions – to abandon a weapons program aimed at developing nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States.

The US treasury named the officials as Kim Jong-sik and Ri Pyong-chol. It said Kim was reportedly a key figure in North Korea’s efforts to switch its missile program from liquid to solid fuel, while Ri was reported to be a key official in its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development.

“Treasury is targeting leaders of North Korea’s ballistic missile programs, as part of our maximum pressure campaign to isolate (North Korea) and achieve a fully denuclearized Korean peninsula,” treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

The largely symbolic steps block any property or interests the two might have within US jurisdiction and prohibit any dealings by US citizens with them.

The move followed new United Nations sanctions announced last Friday in response to North Korea’s 29 November test of an ICBM that Pyongyang said put all of the US mainland within range of its nuclear weapons. Those sanctions sought to further limit North Korea’s access to refined petroleum products and crude oil and its earnings from workers abroad."

[NowYouTseMe]

The UN/America/Israel's capital situation is very interesting to keep a close eye on.
Essentially:

On Thursday, the UNGA voted against the US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The US ambassador actually made quite the speech, it was quite damning, and it appears that the US took this as a personal attack on their sovereignty.

Since then, the US has now pledged to make a $285million (or more) cut to the UN. Article here.

This will be very interesting to keep an eye on - and is a great case study for talking about dispute resolution on a global scale.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/jerusalem-resolution-country-voted-171221180116873.html This article is interesting as it outlines the nation-states which voted for, against or abstained at the UNGA Jerusalem resolution; particularly interesting imo is that many traditional US allies such as the UK and France voted for the resolution

[elysepopplewell]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/jerusalem-resolution-country-voted-171221180116873.html This article is interesting as it outlines the nation-states which voted for, against or abstained at the UNGA Jerusalem resolution; particularly interesting imo is that many traditional US allies such as the UK and France voted for the resolution

Al Jazeera can be a fantastic news source for legal if you're ever looking at the Middle East! I didn't realise Australia abstained from voting. Although I'm not surprised.

[elysepopplewell]

Sooo the Kim Jong-Un situation is unravelling at about the same pace as it has for the past hundred years - y'know, every now and then a little something trickles out, and then it gets confirmed a few days later, yknow.

Anyway, so Kim Jong-Un went to Beijing the other day. So we're noticing some cross-Asia communications. Nothing major to report from a Legal perspective here.

BUT;
https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/on-world-stage-kim-jong-un-says-denuclearisation-is-our-position-20180328-p4z6p7.html

Keep checking back about "denuclearisation" talks. Especially if you're focusing on the NPT in your notes

[NowYouTseMe]

Sooo the Kim Jong-Un situation is unravelling at about the same pace as it has for the past hundred years - y'know, every now and then a little something trickles out, and then it gets confirmed a few days later, yknow.

Anyway, so Kim Jong-Un went to Beijing the other day. So we're noticing some cross-Asia communications. Nothing major to report from a Legal perspective here.

BUT;
https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/on-world-stage-kim-jong-un-says-denuclearisation-is-our-position-20180328-p4z6p7.html

Keep checking back about "denuclearisation" talks. Especially if you're focusing on the NPT in your notes

More on the North Korea situation for those who haven't been keeping up to date:

These articles gives a good summary of inter-Korea communication over the past few decades: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/04/26/what-will-north-and-south-korean-leaders-talk-about-tomorrow-heres-a-cheat-sheet/
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-25/north-and-south-korea-talks-explained/9675710

However, what is truly momentous is the signing of the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula in which North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in pledged to work for the "complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula", detailed here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-27/panmunjom-declaration-for-peace2c-prosperity-and-unification-o/9705794

This article detailing China's role is also probably good reading just so the traditional links between the two countries and the ramifications of an inter-Korean treaty are considered when writing about the North Korea case study: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-25/north-korea-talks-will-they-help-or-hinder-china/9687834

[NowYouTseMe]

As of today, President Trump has announced that the US will be pulling out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, more commonly known as the Iran Nuclear Deal. This is HUGE for World Order as the original deal was lauded as a success for nuclear non-proliferation and diplomacy, exemplifying 'soft power' at work, but the US withdrawal could have huge ramifications for the Middle East as a region.

This article outlines what the original deal was, as well as the terms to which the P5+1 and Iran agreed to.

This article gives details of what we know so far about the US withdrawal, as well as some initial international reactions to the announcement.