President Trump, like many of his predecessors, has said that it would be “intolerable” to live with a nuclear-armed North Korea that can strike any American city. He’s argued that conventional nuclear deterrence, once used to contain the Soviet Union, will not work.
Is he right? What is the risk of disarming an unpredictable regime, known for blackmail and coercion? Is there any military option that would not endanger the entire region? What would war on the Korean Peninsula look like? How does history inform our understanding of volatile, nuclear-armed nations?
David E. Sanger, national security correspondent and author of two Times best sellers on foreign policy and national security, joined Helene Cooper, a Pentagon correspondent with years of foreign and White House experience, in a conversation with Jake Sullivan, who served in the Obama administration as national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden. Mark Landler, a White House correspondent and former bureau chief in Hong Kong and Frankfurt, moderated the discussion.
