Crises ahead - Trump's stalled foreign policy agenda worrying

ECONOMISTS, politicians and pundits can argue forever about whether President Donald Trump is responsible for the booming American economy or whether he just happens to preside over the continuing growth that started under his predecessor.

But this much seems apparent so far - he did not follow in the footsteps of his predecessors in office in starting a new war or drawing the United States into another regional military conflict. Indeed, Mr Trump has resisted pressure at home and abroad to get involved in the civil war in Syria and notwithstanding his anti-Iran rhetoric and his threats against Venezuela's rulers, he has refrained from taking military action against the Islamic republic or the Latin American nation. And while he has been mocked for the "love letters" he has been exchanging with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and for his bromance with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the good news has been that contrary to earlier fears, the capital city of Seoul has not been destroyed in a much feared war while the conflict between the West and Russia over Crimea and other issues has been more or less managed.

The problem though, with Mr Trump's "success" in avoiding going to war, is that it has been achieved by continuing to maintain the foreign policy status quo and by doing nothing to resolve several international crises that still have the potential to explode any time. To put it differently, North Korea continues to maintain a nuclear military arsenal in a way that threatens the United States and its allies in North-east Asia, and according to some reports may be in the process of constructing a new missile site.