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Joseph R. DeTrani

Joseph R. DeTrani

jdetrani@washingtontimes.com

Joseph R. DeTrani is a former Associate Director of National Intelligence and former member of the Senior Intelligence Service of the CIA. He served as special envoy for the Six-Party Talks with North Korea from 2003 to 2006 and as director of the National Counterproliferation Center. He regularly contributes columns to The Washington Times as part of the paper's Threat Status initiative.

Columns by Joseph R. DeTrani

FILE - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Monday, June 19, 2023. China on Wednesday, June 21, called comments by U.S. President Joe Biden referring to Chinese leader Xi Jinping as a dictator “extremely absurd and irresponsible.” (Leah Millis/Pool Photo via AP, File)

A less confrontational China

Chinese President Xi Jinping's decision to meet with visiting Secretary of State Antony Blinken was a wise decision. It conveyed to the world that China wants stability in its relationship with the U.S., concerned that Sino-U.S. tension could and would affect global stability.

June 25, 2023
This photo provided by the North Korean government shows what it says is a ballistic missile in North Pyongan Province, North Korea, on March 19, 2023. North Korea says its ballistic missile launch over the weekend simulated a nuclear attack against South Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

Nuclear-armed North Korea threatens all nations

The joint statement of the Xi Jinping-Vladimir Putin summit expressed concern about the situation on the Korean Peninsula. That was an understatement. North Korea's nuclear and missile programs are a threat to the region and the world. And China and Russia are doing nothing to address this nuclear threat.

April 3, 2023
Cold War between America and China Illustration by Linas Garsys/The Washington Times

We’ve entered a new Cold War with China

Although bilateral trade with China in 2022 increased to a record $690.6 billion, bilateral relations deteriorated to their lowest level since the normalization of relations in 1979.

March 7, 2023
Defusing North Korea Nuclear Tensions Illustration by Linas Garsys/The Washington Times

Defuse the current impasse with North Korea

The current unprecedented escalation of tension with North Korea could result in planned or accidental conflict on the Korean Peninsula, involving conventional and possibly tactical nuclear weapons.

October 19, 2022
Kim Jong-un and North Korea staying nuclear Illustration by Greg Groesch/The Washington Times

A more confident and desperate North Korea

On Sept. 9 Kim Jong-un made it officially clear that North Korea will remain a nuclear weapons state with an expansive nuclear doctrine that includes the preemptive use of nuclear weapons.

September 14, 2022
South Korea's presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party poses for a photo before a televised debate for the upcoming March 9 presidential election at KBS studio in Seoul on Wednesday, March 2, 2022. (Jung Yeon-je/Pool Photo via AP)

Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula

South Korea's new president, Yoon Suk Yeol, in his Liberation Day speech on Aug. 15, reminded the world that "denuclearization of North Korea is essential for sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula, in Northeast Asia and around the world."

August 22, 2022
North Korean Threat Illustration by Greg Groesch/The Washington Times

North Korea’s preemptive nuclear threat

It should be crystal clear: North Korea has nuclear weapons not only for defensive deterrence purposes but, according to Kim Jong-un, to respond to any perceived threat to North Korea and its leadership.

May 4, 2022
Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin talk to each other during their meeting in Beijing, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. China's communist leaders face the dilemma of supporting a quasi-ally in backing Russian military operation against Ukraine while avoiding a collapse of Beijing's declared policy of respecting and never interfering in the internal affairs of other states. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

China’s alignment with a revanchist Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin just doubled down, in defiance to NATO and the United States, and deployed troops and recognized Russia-backed separatists in the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, regions within Ukraine. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said Russia's recognition of the two territories in Ukraine "is a blatant violation of international law."

February 22, 2022