US President Donald Trump calls his administration’s strategy for keeping nuclear weapons away from Iran and containing a nuclear North Korea “maximum pressure” — a tough-talking, sanction-heavy policy designed to force adversaries into compliance. Trump’s former National Security Adviser John Bolton was a primary architect of maximum pressure. After his ouster earlier this week, there have been reports that Bolton was fired for his ultra-hawkish stance on Iran and North Korea. Read more: Iran cautiously welcomes ‘warmonger’ John Bolton’s dismissal Whether maximum pressure will subside without Bolton remains to be seen. Even before the neo-conservative adviser joined Trump’s foreign policy team, the administration’s approach had been criticized as erratic and volatile. After threatening to destroy North Korea in 2017 and holding two summits that ended without a substantial agreement, there is still little evidence that US policy is getting closer to pressuring the regime in Pyongyang to give up its nuclear arsenal. And North Korea continues to antagonize its neighbors, having conducted at least eight missile tests since July. North Korea testing a multiple rocket launcher on September 10, 2019 With Iran, maximum pressure has meant tearing up an international nuclear deal, while pushing the regime in Tehran away from the international community….