DENVER: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” This aphorism, often attributed to Albert Einstein, seems to…
DENVER: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
This aphorism, often attributed to Albert Einstein, seems to be the inspiration for US President Donald Trump’s North Korea policy.
Trump’s approach has been to reject everything that came before him, while involving himself in negotiations to an unprecedented degree. As a result, the US Secretary of State has been reduced to little more than a sherpa for his boss’s summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The question, though, is whether Trump’s unique approach is actually yielding any results. As of now, there has been nothing to suggest that North Korea is changing its ways. But with another Trump-Kim summit expected some time in the next few months, we might soon have more clarity on the matter.
NUCLEAR NEGOTIATIONS
Trump claims to have mastered the art of nuclear negotiation – if not the details, then at least its fundamental essence.
In March, he interrupted a meeting between his then-National Security Adviser H R McMaster and a South Korean delegation to reveal, out of the blue, that he would gladly meet with Kim. He has since followed his own star, always asserting that great progress is being made. After his first summit with Kim in June, he declared that, “There is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea.”
In fact, there has been no progress towards denuclearisation.
In mid-December 2017, Kim announced that his country had completed its missile-test programme, having proven that the latest Hwasong intercontinental missiles are ready for deployment.
He also claimed to have developed a nuclear warhead capable of surviving the terminal phase of a missile launch, though experts note that there is still no evidence for this.
By making these announcements, Kim may have been suggesting that he was ready to pursue his goal of ending the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” sanctions regime through non-military means.
But he also might have intended his statements to be taken at face value, simply to let the world know that North Korea had developed both nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them.
