Some ways to avoid war with North Korea

Patrick Hiller, Counterpunch


1. Engagement with the adversary through multiple levels of diplomacy. If there is a lack of trust as we see between North Korea and the U.S., so-called Track II diplomacy – unofficial mediators without carrots or sticks – can encourage parties to start examining win-win solutions.

2. Looking at what works. Suzanne Di Maggio, Senior Fellow at New America, suggest that we take lessons from Iran to engage North Korea. The so-called Iran Nuclear Deal is an example of hard diplomatic efforts that led to an agreement which is widely considered successful. While the context between Iran and North Korea is quite different, the fact that hostile nations were able to generate agreements on a certain issue demonstrates that diplomacy works.

3. Respect the other. Even in geopolitics, respect for the adversary matters. This has nothing to do with personal likeability, but with workable relationships between adversaries. Any immediate de-escalation of tension and future vision of improving the situation on the Korean Peninsula cannot take place without some sort of recognition and respect. The U.S. and North Korea must start regarding each other as legitimate and responsive to each other to move from tit-for-tat to problem-solving approaches to the conflict.

4. Humanizing the other. Let’s be honest. When thinking about North Korea we see the face of Kim Jong Un and big, threatening military parades showcasing an evil “outlaw” country in the international community – “we are good, they are bad.” One of the most important things we need to do in conflicts is to humanize the other, more specifically 25 million “others” who make up the population of North Korea. While it is hard to actually meet and talk to “the other” in North Korea, we have seen successful citizen-diplomacy initiatives in the context of U.S.-Russian tensions in the past and present.

5. Focus on interests, not positions. One of the key mistakes people in conflict make is to focus on the positions – what we want, what the other wants. Those “wants” do not define what the conflict between the U.S. and North Korea is about. We need to engage in an arduous process of identifying the real needs, concerns and fears. While I am by now means supportive of a nuclear armed North Korea, and for that matter any nuclear weapons on earth, I ask the reader to consider North Korea’s perception that the nuclear program is what keeps the regime alive.