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Convincing China to Coerce North Korea

North Korea’s nuclear ambitions have persisted through the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations. Indeed, the North is expected to possess as many as 100 nuclear warheads by 2020. Pyongyang is also developing the missile capability to strike U.S. bases in the Pacific and someday even the American homeland. Virtually no one believes that the Kim regime will voluntarily relinquish its growing arsenal.

Many American policymakers see China as the best means to pressure North Korea to change course. Yet Beijing so far has continued to underwrite the Kim regime. What must the United States and its allies do to convince Beijing to cut commerce with the North? Would such a course most likely result in reform in Pyongyang or a North Korean collapse? Could the latter be worse than the status quo?

Join our panel for an open discussion of these and related questions, as they consider China’s role in confronting the “North Korea problem.”