The conservosphere has been conspicuously silent on the diplomatic deal with North Korea to give up nuclear weapons. That's because there's no way to make partisan hay on this one: the deal can't possibly be spun as anything other than a conspicuous backing away from the musclebound cowboy platitudes that passed for grand strategy during Bush's first term (read: GWOT vs. "Axis of Evil").
But finally one conservative has spoken up with something intelligent to say about the deal, and that's Charles Krauthammer (!!), who points out that if the deal holds what it really heralds is the official emergence of China as a mature strategic rival to the United States. Worthwhile reading.
Nonsense. China's leverage over North Korea is akin to American leverage over Canada. China's (successful) role in the six-party talks doesn't mean that it is emerging as a strategic rival to the United States. Rather, it means that the American role in the talks was an utter failure because Washington was busy fomenting civil war in the Middle East. China has demonstrated that it can peacefully defuse a strategic threat (i.e., North Korea) when it sees one. How refreshing.
ReplyDeleteThe point is that the fact that China could get an agreement with Korea (and, just as importantly, to get the United States to agree as well) shows that the real diplomatic leadership in Northeast Asia is now coming from China, rather than the United States. Its no longer merely responding to American initiatives, but is the regional driver.
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