In the Issue

• The UN and Iraq: Moving Forward?
• US Editors Visit Korea
• Principled Multilateralism: Lessons From Libya.
• Progress with North Korea
• Gone Are the Days of the Freedom Fry?

Features

The UN and Iraq: Moving Forward? A greater role for the United Nations in Iraq appears inevitable even though chances for success are quite low, according to James Traub in a new analysis from the Stanley Foundation.  On the other hand, adds Traub, no other diplomatic, political, or military process offers a greater likelihood of success. In the policy analysis brief, titled The UN and Iraq: Moving Forward?, Traub offers a series of recommendations for the United Nations and others as the world body steps into what he calls the "calamitous deadlock" gripping Iraq.

US Editors Visit Korea. A dozen US newspaper and broadcast editors spent 26 hours in North Korea last month, getting a rare and surreal peak into the isolated communist nation from the vantage point of the luxurious Mount Kumgang resort in a special tourist zone. That was just one experience the recipients of the International Reporting Project’s Gatekeeper Fellowships, offered through Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, had during a November 2-14 fact-finding trip to Korea. Here are some of their reactions.

Principled Multilateralism: Lessons From Libya. After years of being viewed as the world’s worst state sponsor of terrorism, Libya is on the road to normalized relations with the US. Stanley Foundation Program Officer Matt Martin looks at how the diplomatic effort and events that led to the denuclearization of Libya’s nuclear program may provide lessons for dealing with Iran and North Korea. This is the fourth in a series of articles written by foundation staff that examines the cases where principled multilateralism has been successful.

Beyond the Headlines

Progress with North Korea. Six-party talks with North Korea were stalled this month after disagreement on the North's promise to fully disclose all aspects of its nuclear program by year's end. US Envoy Christopher Hill, who paid a rare visit to Pyongyang to discuss the issue, said the next round of talks likely would be delayed until next year. Meanwhile, the fast pace of diplomacy continued with an unprecedented letter from President Bush to North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Il. A recent Congressional Research Service report to Congress also laid out some of the issues that Congress must soon address, such as approving $106 million in heavy fuel oil shipments to North Korea and removing it from the US state sponsors of terrorism list.

North Korea also permitted the start of a new joint-tourism venture with the South. Earlier this month, the reclusive nation allowed the first group of South Korean tourists to visit the city of Gaesong, where the Hyundai Asan company has an industrial development project that employs North Koreans. Under former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung's Sunshine Policy, this is precisely the sort of North-South cooperation he envisioned to warm relations between the two countries and lay the foundation for eventual reunification of Korea.  On the cultural diplomacy front, the New York Philharmonic agreed to perform in Pyongyang in February, bringing the music of Beethoven and Bach to the world's most isolated country.

Gone Are the Days of the Freedom Fry? French President Nicolas Sarkozy has forged a strong relationship with President Bush, bringing Paris closer to Washington than it has been in decades. But have Sarkozy's pro-American sentiments become popular throughout the country? Recent events in France might say otherwise. Airbus, one of the country's largest employers, has taken a large hit as a result of the falling dollar, while Sarkozy's attempts to reform the French labor force along American lines have met fierce opposition. Riots have broken out across France, testing the new president's authority as well as calling into question French support for his new reforms.

Yet Sarkozy has remained firm in his partnership with Washington. Perhaps one of his most controversial decisions has been to stand beside (and not behind) the White House against Iran. On November 7 Sarkozy was greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Bush at George Washington's home in Mount Vernon with warmth otherwise reserved only for the British officials. The site was chosen specifically to reinvigorate the historical legacy of French aid to the American Revolution. Despite last week's release of the National Intelligence Agency brief on Iran’s lack of nuclear weapons capabilities, both presidents have decided to "stay the course" by continuing to place firm pressure on Iran. While the presidents have set a new precedent for Franco-American relations in the 21st century, Mr. Bush's time in office is coming to a close. As Americans look to their own shift in the executive branch in '08, the answer as to whether the French president will be as close to the new occupant of the White House has yet to be revealed.