Liberals have reliably denigrated Trumpīs Korean outreach from the beginning, and did everything they could to diminish the chances for successWho is responsible for the abrupt collapse of peace negotiations between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un in Hanoi last month? Though the summitīs failure does not mean the end of the peace process on the Korean peninsula - both sides were restrained and polite in their commentary afterward, with no insulting tweets or impromptu missile tests - it is a serious setback. Initial reports suggest there is lots of blame to go around, from Trumpīs overestimation of his own abilities as a dealmaker, to Kimīs possibly unrealistic expectations as to how little the US would be willing to accept, to the uncompromising hawkishness of the national security adviser, John Bolton, who may have intentionally sabotaged negotiations by throwing extra demands into the mix at the last minute.Some of this blame, however, belongs to Democratic politicians and liberal commentators, who have reliably denigrated Trumpīs Korean outreach from the beginning, and did everything they could to diminish the Hanoi summitīs chances for success. Trump is an ignorant narcissist motivated solely by the desire to watch people say nice things about him on television, but his vanity has allowed Kim and the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, to jump-start a process that now offers the best chance for peace on the Korean peninsula in many decades. It is a genuinely historic opportunity, and for liberals to undermine it because they canīt stomach the idea of Trump receiving a Nobel peace prize is shameful.It is a genuinely historic opportunity, and for liberals to undermine it because they canīt stomach the idea of Trump receiving a Nobel peace prize is shamefulThe most Democrats have offered the peace process so far is hysterical rhetoric about North Korean leadership that has been stale for upwards of 25 yearsRichard Beck is an associate editor at N+1 Continue read ...
|
