The Broken Window Theory

Richardson over at DPRK Studies has a great write up about former US Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton’s new book “Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the U.N. and Abroad”.  Here is the money quote from the write up:

First, the timetable of the Feb. 13 agreement is already shredded. President Bush said at the time of the deal: “Those who say that the North Koreans have got to prove themselves by actually following through on the deal are right, and I’m one.” Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill, the deal’s U.S. architect and chief negotiator, said: “We need to avoid above all missing deadlines. It’s like a broken-window theory: one window is unrepaired, and before you know it you’ll have a lot of broken windows and nobody cares.”

Those statements were correct when made, and they are correct today. Sadly, however, they no longer seem to be “operative.”

Second, by making secret side deals with North Korea, the State Department has left itself vulnerable to future renegotiation efforts. This is the North’s classic style: Negotiate hard to reach an agreement, sign it, and then start renegotiating, not to mention violating the deal at will. America’s serial concessions on BDA simply confirm to Pyongyang that State is well into the “save the deal” mode, which bodes well for future North Korean efforts to recast it.

Bolton as usual is absolutely correct because North Korea is a broken window that no one cars about now.  The last part about negotiating could fit the South Korean government as well where the US continuously gets double crossed on agreements with the ROK government.

Make sure to go read the rest of the posting it is a good read.