Why Talk?

Some people are wondering just what we expect to get from talking to the North Koreans.

But Ms. Rice is coming under increased fire inside and outside the administration from officials and experts who are skeptical about what diplomacy can achieve in this case, and who argue that there is no chance a new round of nuclear talks with North Korea will succeed.

“What’s a good description? Fantasy? Dreamworld?” said Nicholas Eberstadt [OFK interview here], a North Korea expert with the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. “All we’re doing with these hapless efforts at conference diplomacy is continuing to talk while North Korea continues to build nuclear weapons.

Substantively, he’s right. Nothing will come from talks. But showing a willingness to show up and talk has cosmetic, political, and diplomatic value. The short answer is that we should talk so that we can say we’re willing to talk. If, behind that cosmetic policy, there is a substantive policy that creates real pressure, there’s even the slenderest wispy hope that we’ll get somewhere.