US-North Korea diplomacy stalled when Trump stopped negotiating
US-North Korea diplomacy stalled when Trump stopped negotiating
BY DANIEL DEPETRIS, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR 04/30/19 01:30 PM EDT
...Despite differences in style and Trumps willingness to meet with North Koreas leader, the Trump administrations bottom-line position is indistinguishable from every U.S. administration over the last three decades: If North Korea wants to normalize its relations with the U.S., integrate economically with the rest of East Asia, and enjoy peace with its neighbors, it must give up all of its weapons of mass destruction and dismantle its entire ballistic missile capability. This is the position of national security advisor John Bolton it demands Pyongyang capitulate immediately, completely and unreservedly to American demands for the mere prospect of concessions.
It should go without saying that this strategy has failed time and time again, just as it predictably failed in Hanoi. And yet, like clockwork, Washington continues to insist on the same bankrupted formula under the delusional theory that economic sanctions will force Kim to part ways with his regimes nuclear security blanket.
With a position like this, it simply wont matter who is negotiating on behalf of the United States. Whether it is Mike Pompeo, Stephen Biegun, Henry Kissinger, or the great George Marshall, the result will be the same unless the objectives adjust to strategic reality and common sense.
While the world would be better off if North Korea didnt possess nuclear weapons, that ship sailed long ago...
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/441374-us-north-korea-diplomacy-stalled-when-trump-stopped-negotiating