US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Chairman Kim Jong Un met in an unprecedented summit on the island of Sentosa in Singapore June 11-12, 2018. The resulting joint statement expresses the intentions of both countries to normalize relations and to work toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Optimists pointed to acts of goodwill by both sides, such as North Korea’s commitment to repatriation of the remains of US soldiers and the US’s cancellation of the Freedom Guardian joint exercises with South Korea, as evidence that the summit marked the beginning of a new chapter in US-North Korea relations. Pessimists, meanwhile, argue that the joint statement does not go far enough and that the US is sacrificing its allies’ security for little more than a photo op. In this RPI Policy Alert, we continue our coverage of this year’s summer summits and perspectives from the Rising Powers. Read more here.