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00:00DO WE ACTUALLY MEASURE THE ENORMITY OF WHAT WE ARE SEEING? WE ARE TALKING ABOUT A POSSIBLE DENUCLEARIZATION, BUT JUST THE OPTICS OF IT. ROBIN: IF WE CAN TAKE THE TRUMP-KIM SUMMIT TODAY, I THINK IT IS A CONTINUATION OF ALL THE CARDS THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP THROUGH ON THE TABLE IN HIS FIRST YEAR, OPENED EVERYTHING UP FROM THE U.S.-CHINA RELATIONSHIP TO WTO, THE JCPOA PULLOUT OF THE IRAN DEAL AND NOW THE NORTH KOREA DEAL. I DON'T THINK HE WANTS TO CLOSE ANYTHING RIGHT NOW. HE WANTS TO SHOW THAT HE HAS OPENED UP ON SATISFACTORY DEALS, THAT HE IS MAKING PROGRESS TOWARD SOMETHING BETTER THAN WHAT WAS BEFORE. HE HAS SAID BEFORE THE WORLD SEEMS LESS DANGEROUS. THE THREAT FROM NORTH KOREA AT THE MOMENT IS NOT ESCALATING. FOR HIM, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO DO IS TO SHOW THAT THIS IS STILL LIVE -- I AM DOING A DEAL FROM A TOUGH POSITION. I REALLY DON'T SEE MORE THAN THE THEATER RIGHT NOW. FRANCINE: IS THE WORLD SAFER? WE HAVEN'T SEEN THESE TIT-FOR-TAT KIND OF ESCALATIONS SINCE 1971 WITH INDIA AND PAKISTAN. ROBIN: I FEEL LIKE WE HAVE ENTERED A WORLD WHERE BRINKMANSHIP IS NOW PAR FOR THE COURSE ACROSS THE WORLD. WE HAVE TO IN BREXIT, IN THE IRAN DEAL, THE INDIA-PAKISTAN STANDOFF. THIS HAS BEEN BOILING FOR QUITE A WHILE. I DON'T FEEL WE ARE TAKING OVER THE EDGE TO SOME CHAOTIC WORLD AT THE MOMENT. WE ARE IN A MUCH MORE UNSTABLE, MOBILE WORLD, BUT NOT ONE WHERE I SENSE CHAOS ABOUT TO TAKE OFF. HASLINDA: FOR THE TRUMP-KIM SUMMIT, WE HAVE THE FORMER ENERGY SECTOR OF THE U.S. SAYING THIS IS ABOUT THIS TRUST EVERYTHING AND VERIFY. -- DISTRUST EVERYTHING AND VERIFY. HOW MUCH CAN BE ACHIEVED AND HOW MUCH CAN WE VERIFY? ROBIN: I THINK UNTIL THERE IS A FRAMEWORK DEAL THAT IS PROPERLY ESTABLISHED WITH THE KIM GOVERNMENT, YOU'RE NOT IN A POSITION TO VERIFY. THERE IS NO AGREEMENT TO VERIFY RIGHT NOW, NOR IS THEIR INFRASTRUCTURE FOR DOING SO. I THINK THE CAPACITY TO BUILD TRUST, ONE IN WHICH THE KIM GOVERNMENT CAN SHOW IT GIVES A BIT MORE CONCESSION IS THE CRITICAL ELEMENT. CAN THERE AT LEAST BE TALK IF THERE IS NATIONAL AGREEMENT ABOUT THE PROCESS. THAT WOULD CREATE A FRAMEWORK FOR EXCHANGING DIPLOMATS. AS I SAID, I THINK WE ARE WAY EARLY IN THIS PROCESS. WHAT WE HAVE DONE AND WHAT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AND GOVERNMENT HAVE DONE IS THE ESCALATE A SITUATION. THEY STILL HAVE NOT ESTABLISHED A FRAMEWORK FOR MOVING FORWARD. TOM: GOOD MORNING. THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US TODAY. ARE WE LOOKING AT A DIPLOMACY THAT IS A ONE-OFF AND UNIQUE TO A TRUMP ERA? OR DO YOU SENSE THIS IS A TRUE SEA CHANGE IN THE ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY OF AMERICA? ROBIN: I THINK WE ARE IN A SEA CHANGE OF THE DIPLOMACY OF AMERICA THAT WILL GO BEYOND PRESIDENT TRUMP. ONCE A U.S. PRESIDENT HAS SAID AMERICA FIRST, IT IS HARD FOR A FOLLOW-UP PRESIDENT TO SAY AMERICA'S SECOND OR EVERYBODY ELSE. AMERICA IS NOW A PLAYER AND THE MOST POWERFUL COUNTRY IN THE WORLD AND HAS PUT EVERYBODY ON EDGE. EVERYONE IS UP JOSTLING FOR POSITION AND LEADERSHIP IN THEIR PARTICULAR REGIONS, WHETHER IT IS RUSSIA, AND RON, -- IRAN, CHINA.

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Trump-Kim Summit `Little More Than Theater': Chatham House

Robin Niblett, director at Chatham House, talks about the meeting in Vietnam between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He speaks on "Bloomberg Surveillance." (Source: Bloomberg)

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