On the Brink: Trump, Kim, and the Threat of Nuclear War

In 2017, the tense exchange of threats between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un highlighted a significant nuclear crisis in the post-Cold War era. Former Pentagon insider Van Jackson delves into the origins of this crisis, analyzing Trump's aggressive rhetoric alongside historical U.S. policy failures and the complexities of East Asian geopolitics. Through a thorough examination of North Korea's strategic culture and nuclear ambitions, Jackson warns that the Trump administration's "maximum pressure" strategy brought the world perilously close to nuclear conflict while suggesting pathways to prevent future crises.