On June 26, the Atlantic Council’s Global Business & Economics Program, in partnership with the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), hosted a lunch roundtable discussion on US sanctions options against North Korea. The event featured Daleep Singh, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and adjunct senior fellow at CNAS; and Peter E. Harrell, adjunct senior fellow at the Energy, Economics, and Security Program at CNAS. Elizabeth Rosenberg, senior fellow and director of the Energy, Environment, and Security Program at CNAS, moderated and Ambassador Daniel Fried, distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Future Europe Initiative and Eurasia Center, gave opening remarks.
The event began with both speakers providing an overview of the issue brief they recently co-authored, titled, “How to Increase Pressure if Diplomacy with North Korea Fails.” They focused on the importance of incorporating sanctions against China as part of the United States’ “maximum pressure” campaign should negotiations with North Korea fail. In addition, Singh and Harrell outlined how a strategic sanctions regime must leverage Chinese economic vulnerabilities. This was followed by an open discussion that contextualized US sanctions options within the current diplomatic landscape. Participants posed questions concerning US strategy in potential crisis and non-crisis scenarios; defining benchmarks of a breakdown of diplomacy; keeping North Korea at the table; and the threat and implications of destabilizing the Chinese economy.