But can he still get DVDs of Team America?

Message to Dear Leader: No jet skis for you. No leather chaps, no silk PJs, no flat-screen TV. No Courvoisier, either. For the first time ever, the United States is attempting to use trade sanctions to target a specific person: North Korean president Kim Jong-il, who is known for his love of luxury goods (even ...

605899_15TEAM.1.1845.jpg
605899_15TEAM.1.1845.jpg

Message to Dear Leader: No jet skis for you. No leather chaps, no silk PJs, no flat-screen TV. No Courvoisier, either. For the first time ever, the United States is attempting to use trade sanctions to target a specific person: North Korean president Kim Jong-il, who is known for his love of luxury goods (even while his people are starving). The U.S. has proposed a list of items to be banned from North Korea in the wake of the rogue nation's nuclear tests earlier this year. The ban would be administered through the United Nations, which has already imposed sanctions on the shipment of weapons and other military equipment. What I wonder is, if Kim doesn't have cigars, perfumes, and brandy to shower upon his most favored friends, won't they abandon him? Oh wait, I guess that's the point -- to make him "so ronery, oh so ronery..." 

Message to Dear Leader: No jet skis for you. No leather chaps, no silk PJs, no flat-screen TV. No Courvoisier, either. For the first time ever, the United States is attempting to use trade sanctions to target a specific person: North Korean president Kim Jong-il, who is known for his love of luxury goods (even while his people are starving). The U.S. has proposed a list of items to be banned from North Korea in the wake of the rogue nation’s nuclear tests earlier this year. The ban would be administered through the United Nations, which has already imposed sanctions on the shipment of weapons and other military equipment. What I wonder is, if Kim doesn’t have cigars, perfumes, and brandy to shower upon his most favored friends, won’t they abandon him? Oh wait, I guess that’s the point — to make him “so ronery, oh so ronery…” 

Christine Y. Chen is a senior editor at Foreign Policy.

More from Foreign Policy

The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.
The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.

America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose

Global war is neither a theoretical contingency nor the fever dream of hawks and militarists.

A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.
A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.

The West’s Incoherent Critique of Israel’s Gaza Strategy

The reality of fighting Hamas in Gaza makes this war terrible one way or another.

Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.
Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.

Biden Owns the Israel-Palestine Conflict Now

In tying Washington to Israel’s war in Gaza, the U.S. president now shares responsibility for the broader conflict’s fate.

U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.
U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.

Taiwan’s Room to Maneuver Shrinks as Biden and Xi Meet

As the latest crisis in the straits wraps up, Taipei is on the back foot.