In something of perfect timing, the two main threats to international order, Iran and North Korea, have converged on the global agenda.
With respect to Iran, and given the United States' threat to exit the 2015 nuclear agreement in two weeks unless significant changes are made to it, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who visited Israel Sunday, made it clear that Washington – with the cooperation of its Israeli ally – was willing to take decisive action against the ayatollahs' regime.
At the same time, a historic summit, full of mutual goodwill gestures, was held in the Korean Peninsula. In clear contrast to Iran's defiance, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has repeatedly signaled that he is willing to pursue nuclear disarmament.
While past experience has shown that Pyongyang's promises when it comes to its nuclear ambitions should be taken with a grain of salt, it was still astounding to learn that so far, Kim's only demand in exchange for shelving his nuclear program was that the United States pledge not to use military force against his country.
In other words, U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to completely destroy North Korea was credible enough to persuade Kim to rethink his belligerence position and trade it in for a conciliatory policy toward both South Korea and the U.S. While former President Barack Obama's threats against Pyongyang rang hollow, the margin of uncertainty and fear generated by Trump's aggressive rhetoric, compounded by a series of debilitating U.N. Security Council sanctions, seems to have achieved their deterrent and restraining goal.
One cannot help but think back to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when the Soviets' agreement to remove their missiles from Cuba derived from a secret American promise not to try to topple Cuban leader Fidel Castro's regime. That was enough to convince Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev that President John F. Kennedy was determined to bring about the removal of ballistic missiles from Cuba.
The dramatic developments taking place in the Korean arena should not be viewed as separate from what is happening in other regions, especially the Middle East, since it is important to remember that the Syrian nuclear reactor destroyed in 2007 was partially sponsored by North Korea.
We must also remember the generous military assistance, especially in the field of missile development, North Korea has given Iran over the years.
The possibility that one of the entities comprising the axis of evil may soon be transformed and cut Iran and Syria from an essential pipeline for conventional and unconventional weapons will undoubtedly resonate with the Iranian regime.
One can only hope that this change will lead Tehran to reassess whether it is willing to truly compromise on its nuclear ambitions, and perhaps even with regard to its subversive conduct in the Middle East, and the sooner that happens, the better.
