Dr. Bruce Cumings teaches modern Korean history, international history, and East Asian political economy at the University of Chicago, where he has taught since 1987. He is one of the foremost experts on the Korean War and U.S. security interests in East Asia. On 23 February 2017, he will give a talk at NSA titled “On the Futility of U.S. Policy toward North Korea.”

In his talk, he will discuss how the U.S. has pursued four methods to try to influence North Korea. The U.S. pursued sanctions and non-recognition for seven decades. In the fall of 1950, it pursued regime change, which ended in a debacle. This was again pursued by the George W. Bush administration. The Clinton, Obama, and Park Geun-hye administrations (among others) were occupied with patiently waiting for the regime to collapse. Finally, the U.S. has employed direct talks, which is the only method to work for a while; however, direct talks have been suspended for the last five years. What now?

For a link to the short bio on Dr. Cumings, click here.