Clinton Cautions North Korea Not To Launch Missile

Alan Stewart Carl, a moderate blogger, writes about U.S. relations with North Korea: "The Obama Administration may be trying out a kinder, gentler style of foreign policy, but Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has already put North Korea on notice: test a long-range missile and they can forget about a better relation with the U.S."

He adds: "I don’t expect Obama to have any more success in reforming North Korea than did his predecessors. I do expect him and his team to be smart enough to follow a policy of containment. Really, the most important aspect of the six party talks is not to get North Korea to agree to change but to get China, South Korea, Japan, Russia and the U.S. to all agree (and to continue to agree) that the rogue nation needs to be contained. The best Obama can probably hope for is ensuring the large powers don’t fracture over the issue. Changing North Korea seems unlikely. Ensuring the nation is more nuisance than threat is the real goal."