Diplomacy and North Korea

The world seems to be on a slide towards chaos. With recent leaders of various countries spewing rhetoric and threats, where is the voice of calm resolve? At some point there is a line that breaks through rhetoric and reality shines bright.

That point takes place behind closed doors so that the perceptions of certain leaders save face. Most seasoned politicians understand the difference between speaking to your domestic audience, speaking to the international audience and then there is the diplomatic (face to face) meetings behind closed doors. Why does there have to be and difference in those three situations? In reality there should not be, however, sadly we live in a world where perception is more important than reality. Due to this disjointed mindset we have at least three different platforms of speak.

On the domestic front we have leaders spouting off about how strong they are. Sometimes that carries over to the international sphere as is happening now with North Korea and the Republic of the United States (RUSA). What has not changed is that the diplomatic talks. We know that North Korea has been working the back rooms of diplomacy to get a grip on what RUSA is doing. Whether these efforts are just a way for top officials in North Korea to get out and see the world or if there is true substance is questionable. However there is an effort being made to a small degree of talking things out to calm the waters.

The world has dealt with people such as Trump and Jong-un. We need to pay attention to the rhetoric because it can get out of control which is when war breaks out. In the global context the rhetoric has brought other issues into light. One such event that has taken advantage of the war of words is Taiwan and its separation from China. Due to this impact there are other consequences which may play out that no one is even aware of at the moment. This is why the diplomatic channels are so important.

To make the point of how important the backroom channels are, Pakistan has at least a hundred nuclear weapons and they have been under a leadership which equals Trump. The relations between RUSA and Pakistan were very bad for many years, still are not that good. Really all we have taking place between Trump and Jung-un is an ego clash. These clashes can be and are being tempered by the people in the diplomatic rooms. For example Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister has stated that the war of words between Trump and Jung-un is like two children fighting.

Although peace is easy to understand, to do what is understood and necessary is where the courage fails many of us. It takes greater courage to stand your ground and be peaceful than it is to engage in the fight. We have all seen the person who has to get the last shot in, the last word, the greatest slander or other such action of one-upping the other. Such actions are in reality the cause for greater threats of violence. Everyone agrees that the actions of North Korea are unstable and have been for decades. Why swat the bees nest?

As for each of us, we need to speak and act in terms of peace with those that we are at odds with. We should be pointing out the damages being done and need to be aware of the destruction of our communities. As long as that is followed up immediately with how you are willing to work together to rebuild/improve the community and do it. Such language is taken differently if it were just a shot being taken at the expense of the other.

In closing, we should be concerned about rhetoric as it speaks to an underlying ideology. Since the rhetoric is coming from leadership, this only shows the immaturity of those particular leaders. The professionals that are in place are more than capable of quelling such behaviour in the case of Trump and Jung-un.