Junotane

My name is Jeffrey Robertson, aka Junotane. On this site, I write on foreign policy, diplomacy and the Korean Peninsula.

As an advisory warning, it’s direct, no holds barred, cutting commentary from in-country. It may offend. There’s no government baloney, no corporate cream, and no thinktank spruiking. Just free-thinking insight - commentary, analysis and fiction.

From here you can head on over to read About Junotane, including subscriptions and contact details; or you can head straight to the Writing section where you will find Analysis, Commentary, and Fiction on the Korean Peninsula and the the region.

Thanks for visiting and remember: be thankful, be nice, and help people - life is short :)

Do politicians really make excellent envoys?

The debate over political appointments to ambassadorial posts has a long history in the United States, has only recently become an issue in the United Kingdom, and is now a growing issue in Australia.

2020 12 08

In search of a middle power rethink

It’s time to admit that US North Korea policy has failed. Democrats and Republicans have repeatedly sailed into the headwind of North Korea’s nuclear ambitions to no avail.

2020 11 20

Coming soon: a neutral South Korea

Regardless of who wins the US election, South Korea, not North Korea, should be a priority for the next administration and neglecting South Korea risks the US not seeing the strategic forest for the North Korean nuclear trees.

2020 11 03

Where next for MIKTA?

After seven years, the informal middle power partnership bringing together Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia (MIKTA), has achieved less than optimists envisioned, but lasted longer than pessimists imagined.

2020 08 25

Australia's South Korea problem

Despite its increasing international reputation as a global middle power, the tremendous success of its culture exports, and recognition of its effective governance, South Korea faces an image problem in Australia.

2020 07 22

Middle powers after the middle power moment

The middle-power moment may well have been an illusion, but middle powers will continue to play an important albeit different role in international relations.

2020 06 06

North Korea between fact and fiction

With public attitudes towards fact shifting, fiction presents the opportunity to communicate policy - and historical fiction, ethnographic fiction, creative non-fiction and even ‘fictional international relations’ all invoke a deeper, less literal kind of truth.

2020 05 03

Watching South Korea - Beware assumptions

Over the past year, long-suppressed strategic debates re-emerged in South Korea: accepting a less-involved United States, strengthening relations with China, securing an independent nuclear weapons capacity, or combining all of these and steering a path towards a unified Korea that could sustain some form of armed neutrality.

2020 01 29

South Korea's missing middle power diplomacy

Without middle power diplomacy, South Korea's diplomacy will ultimately end up battling the same diplomatic crises with North Korea it has in the past — or worse

2019 05 15

Political leadership versus diplomacy

Political leadership and diplomacy are different, and remembering this point suggests we give diplomats the trust, confidence and resources they deserve, and allow them to do their jobs.

2019 03 06