24 January 2010: Toward a New Realism
The arch-“realist” Richard Haass has concluded that talks are going nowhere, changed his mind, and called for regime change in Iran. I wonder if, had all other things been equal but the outcome of the 2008 election, Haass would have had the same epiphany. I’ve always found irony and amusement in the idea that it is “realistic” to believe that pathologically mendacious regimes, regimes founded on the idea that rules are for subjects and enemies, would freely negotiate away the capacity to impose their will on their neighbors. Thankfully, there seems to be a growing consensus — even within some parts of the Obama Administration — that Obama’s election has changed nothing, evil is still evil, and negotiations will get us nowhere.
The Voice of America interviews Brian R. Myers about his new book, which goes on sale next week:
In his new book, Myers describes North Korea’s core race beliefs as a legacy of Japanese colonial rule in the early 20th century.
“After an initial period in which they brutally tried to stamp out all Korean feelings of pride in their nation, the Japanese decided to co-opt it. They did this by saying ‘you Koreans, and we Japanese, we are all part of a uniquely pure race, a uniquely ancient race, that goes back thousands and thousands of years, to the same divine progenitor,” he explained.
You can listen to Kurt Achin’s report and quotes from Myers here. Myers concludes that North Korea will never agree to disarm because it wants nuclear weapons as a tool of domestic legitimacy (if not foreign extortion), and needs conflict with America to justify its own existence. I’ve written about Myers’s ideas at greater length here.
Let the histrionics begin! Stop me if you’ve already heard this one:
The North’s General Staff of the Korean People’s Army said the South Korean defence chief’s recent remarks on a preemptive strike had created a “grave situation” which could lead to war “at any moment.” “They (the armed forces) will take prompt and decisive military actions against any attempt of the South Korean puppet authorities… and blow up the major targets including the commanding centre,” it said, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
An expert at the Stockholm Institute for International Peace claims that North Korea’s arms exports have been reduced by 90% since U.N. sanctions were imposed last May. Impressive, if true, but I wonder how they can be so sure (link in Korean; hat tip to Dan Bielefeld).
Korean-Japanese Ko Jong-Mi was brought from Japan to North Korea by her mother as part of the Homecoming Project. She recalls her mother’s last words: “I’m sorry,” the old woman said, her voice weak. “I’m the one who brought you to this life. Please, please forgive me.” Ko, you will recall, sued Chongryon for its part in the Homecoming Project, but lost for failing to file suit before the statute of limitations lapsed. Now, she tells her story to the L.A. Times’s John M. Glionna. Hat tip to David Woolley.