Rex Tillerson on War & Peace

Create right conditions for negotiations with North Korea

At the State Department and CIA, respectively, Tillerson and Pompeo have both prioritized the North Korean nuclear threat and focused on pressuring North Korea economically and diplomatically. But whereas Tillerson has expressed eagerness to create the right conditions for negotiations with North Korea, Pompeo has voiced profound skepticism about what such talks can accomplish.

Whereas Tillerson has been associated with a faction in the administration resistant to military options to deal with the North's nuclear program, Pompeo has taken a more aggressive position. Tillerson declared that the US wasn't seeking regime change in North Korea; Pompeo suggested ways to "separate" Kim Jong Un from his nuclear weapons.

Opposed US sanctions against Russia over Crimea annexation

Tillerson opposed U.S. sanctions against Russia in 2014 over its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine because he thought they would be ineffective.

In 2012, Tillerson received the "Order of Friendship" award from Putin. The same year, Exxon deepened its cooperation with Russian oil company Rosneft to expand an oil drilling project in the Arctic after U.S. sanctions over Ukraine were imposed.

Destroy the Islamic State; be wary of China's behavior