But we may look back on this as the time the region fell apart, says Richard N. Haass. The latter question makes the deterioration in relations between Japan and South Korea all the more disquieting. Tensions between these two American allies are spilling over into their trade relationship and will make it harder to co-ordinate policy toward North Korea and China. And in the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, the US pledged to provide the island with arms, and stated that it would view with great concern any effort to determine Taiwan’s future other than peacefully. And, more broadly, Trump’s foreign policy is at its core unpredictable and disruptive, whereas strong alliances require predictability and confidence.

Source: Irish Examiner July 18, 2019 22:52 UTC