DEVELOPMENTS HOME AND ABROAD.The biggest news on the international front of the North Korean crisis appears to be China's apparent willingness to think about strong punitive measures. I'm not sure what to read into this, as "tough measures" undoubtedly means something radically different in Beijing than in Washington or Tokyo. Nevertheless, China is one of a very small fraternity of countries with serious influence over North Korea, so any indication of willingness on their part to use leverage is good news. I doubt, though, that any set of carrots and sticks will get Pyongyang to give up its remaining weapons. Indeed, the current level of tough talk is likely to push them into another test. On the domestic front, the Republicans have settled on their narrative; Clinton did it. The point man here is John McCain, who, as Brad Plumer notes, is making noises that seem to indicate that he would attack North Korea if he were president. This is the perfect political opportunity for McCain. He gets to act hawkish without paying the cost of actually launching a disastrous war. The hearts of his right wing critics, those who believe the problem with neoconservatism isn't that it failed but that it was never tried, are no doubt aflutter. Liberal hawks who hold to the incompetence dodge will also be excited by the prospect of a hawkish president who's possibly somewhat less inept than George W. Bush. Centrist liberals have rather a history of seeing the McCain that they want rather than the one who actually exists, and in the process of swooning they may be willing to excuse his more indefensible statements as just "what he needs to do to win the Republican primary". Meanwhile, Michael Sticking has a good wrap-up of some of the blogospheric reaction to the test.
--Robert Farley