What I wanna really know is ...who has the biggest button
Trump. Obviously.
I hate to say it, but the older I get the more I believe that international relations are nothing more than school yard politics. One component of that is that bullies respect strength, and will bully those without it. If you do not project strength, you are increasing the prospect of conflict and the bully will push the issue until he’s popped in the nose.
The USA, UK, etc. is strong and has always been strong. But by acting with deference, acting as if we aren’t willing to get our hands dirty, all we’ve done is encourage the bully. We need leaders with swagger, those who present as hard men, in order to avoid conflict. Those who act as if they fear conflict or will go to any extent to avoid it, will be pushed into the locker, tossed into the bushes and generally terrorized.
In short, Trump is doing exactly what should have been done 30 years ago. Push comes to shove, he will remove Kim Jong Un from the face of the earth. Trump knows it, Kim knows it, and the world knows it. With that marker set down, Kim has to consider whether he wants to survive and whether he wants his people to survive. If the answer is yes, then at that point it becomes about him saving face while attempting to befriend the person who can and will crush him, so he doesn’t look like a coward.
My hope is that we are on the road to peace, but I know we are on to the road the Kim family doing something else and Korea re-integrating. How we get there is up to Kim.