THE AXIS of Evil has recently become just a little more evil and a lot more powerful. U.S. spy agencies earlier this week confirmed that North Korea, headed by the egoistical Kim Jong Il, successfully detonated a nuclear warhead, according to the Associated Press. The explosion itself was thankfully insignificant -- the bomb was only the equivalent 200 tons of TNT, much weaker than the capabilities of most other nuclear nations. However, the fact that a dictator was willing to ignore the threat of U.N. sanctions should keep the leaders all nations, particularly the United States, awake at night.
Unfortunately, there are few available options to punish the rogue nation. The United States can actively reduce sources of external funding for the nation by other sources, and it can engage in multilateral threats along with the U.N. However, the once-powerful image that the United States maintained is mostly gone, thanks to our occupation of Iraq. Despite this, the Bush administration remains extremely hostile to the nation, refusing even to engage in bilateral talks with North Korea.
The Bush administration needs to look at recent history to properly deal with this threat. Since Iran and North Koreaare gaining power as a result of present foreign policy, the neoconservative doctrine of militant isolationism can no longer be the diplomatic banner that the administration waves. The administration needs to go back to the realpolitik of the recent past, focusing more on diplomatic practicality and realism than idealism and militarism. Specifically, realpolitik dictates that the United States must contact North Korean officials and engage in true one-on-one diplomacy. The administration must confront North Korea personally and realistically.
Realpolitik itself was originally created in the 19th century in Germany, but was not considered as a plan for American foreign policy until it put into action by Henry Kissinger during the Nixon administration. During his tenure, Kissinger negotiated a more peaceful relationship with the Soviet Union and China, despite previous administrations' history of fighting proxy wars with smaller nations. While the Soviet Union continued to remain a dangerous threat for nearly 20 years and China remains an uneasy ally to this day, the Cold War animosity between the three countries eased and even helped reestablish trade relations between the United States and China.
This is not to say that realpolitik dictates that the United States immediately negotiate with every potentially hostile nation without the threat of military action. However, military action needs to be a last-ditch result of realistic conditions. For example, a typical realpolitik military response to a nation such as North Korea would be justified if the United States could convince the vast majority of nations to commit a significant amount of troops and resources to a conflict and that a military campaign would be sustainable.
Additionally, military action would have to come from a widely known provocation, such as an unprovoked invasion of another country or a sudden mass genocide. Military threats against North Korea are unrealistic since the nation has (at least to Americans' knowledge) not issued a genocide on its peoples or invade any countries as of yet. And unless the United States can convince the majority of the globe to support its actions, unrealistic military action would prove futile anyway.
All options aside, the most realistic option for the United States now is direct diplomacy. While North Korea is led by an unstable dictator, Kim Jung Il is relatively pragmatic and would unlikely (at this point) use his military capabilities against its neighbors Japan or South Korea. The best diplomacy can give to the United States is an easing of North Korea's nuclear program. The worst diplomacy can give the administration is continued hostility, which is where America stands now. Therefore is little more that can be lost if the administration negotiates with North Korean officials, even if the talks result in no gain and North Korea remains hostile to America and the world.
According to Newsweek, former South Korean Prime Minister Kim Dae Jung mentioned that dialogue is not necessarily used to make friends, and that "You can have dialogue even with the Devil if it is necessary". If the United States doesn't realistically deal with North Korea but continues to issue empty threats, the United States will fall victim once again to its unfounded idealism, hoping that unrealistic potential military action and threats will put everything will put itself into its place. As Kissinger's realpolitik demonstrates, the United States sometimes must give the Devil his due.
Adam Silverberg's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at asilverberg@cavalierdaily.com.
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