Trump fumbles foreign policy in curious ways

Last week, Niall Ferguson defended President Trump’s foreign policy in the May 15 op-ed “Face it: Trump has been right about Iran and North Korea.’’ But let’s face it: Ferguson is wrong. If the Iran deal was less than perfect because it only delayed Iran’s nuclear research and failed to address other objectionable activities, wasn’t delaying the bomb better than nothing? By canceling the Iran deal, Trump is letting the unattainable perfect get in the way of the obtainable good.

Ferguson predicts that Trump “won’t get complete denuclearization’’ out of North Korea, “but he will get some.’’ But that “some’’ is exactly what Trump had with Iran, and he threw it away.

Ferguson also writes, “Meanwhile, large-scale South Korean and Chinese investment in North Korea will start the process of prying open the hermit kingdom.’’ So why not try prying open Iran as well?

To use Ferguson’s cowboy analogy, at present North Korea has a loaded gun and Iran does not. But withdrawing from the Iran deal runs the risk of handing Iran the bullets, while North Korea’s gun remains, and will remain, loaded. Lifting sanctions on North Korea runs the same risk of financing bad behavior that Ferguson deplores in Iran.

H.D.S. Greenway

Needham

The writer is a former foreign, national, and editorial page editor of the Globe.

Too soon to launch the confetti over US policy moves

Niall Ferguson’s praise of President Trump’s actions on North Korea and Iran is certainly premature.

In the case of Iran, nothing has happened other than Trump’s decision to exit the nuclear deal. The United States may very well find itself in the embarrassing situation of being the only nation engaging in an “international’’ reimposition of sanctions against Iran. (Russia has already indicated it will not follow suit.)

In the case of North Korea, the only result so far is that North Korea has said it will cease new development of missiles and bombs. (North Korea has said many things in the past.) Kim Jung Un may in fact feel that he is the winner: He has gotten a commitment of a meeting in person with Trump, and a declaration that the United States will not overthrow his regime.

I suggest that Ferguson withhold his applause until something has happened.

David Golber

Cambridge