11 February 2010

The folks at Slate (and one reader, thanks) e-mailed me this review of Nothing to Envy, which contemplates the problem of breaking down North Korea’s isolation:

The answer is one that policy-makers from Washington to Seoul often overlook, fixated as they are on two stark options as they confront North Korea’s nuclear threat: either impose harsh sanctions or promise a “grand bargain” of complete normalization and massive financial assistance in return for denuclearization. Either put a stone slab on top of the well or propose to flood it, and then wonder why the frog-king doesn’t leap at the offer. The third way lies in between, through incremental engagements that draw North Koreans into the world–without contributing to their military capabilities. Universities, NGOs, corporations, U.N. agencies, and international financial institutions have untapped potential to build more constructive relationships with counterparts in the DPRK.

Why is it so hard for some Americans to understand that the North Korean regime will never permit this, for exactly that reason? Fortunately, the smugglers who feed North Korea’s markets are doing a far better job than any number of exchanges the state might permit.

Who says everyone in Washington is a thief?

For the people of Iran, the days ahead will be very tense. They could also be very bloody and very decisive. Keep them in your thoughts. As is so often the case these days, when a government is slaughtering its people, China is there to be the sniper’s spotter.