The U.S. needs to ask itself what is its ultimate goal in Northeast Asia. It seems lately that the answer to that question is the elimination all nuclear weapons from North Korea, but such thinking reveals the fundamental weakness in U.S. foreign policy: this is not a long-term goal but merely an objective, and one that is probably not even achievable.  

The correct long-term – and certainly more enlightened – goal ought to be peace and stability in the region. Progress in that direction would likely entail a different form of government in North Korea, certainly one with far more concern for the needs and aspirations of its people. But what exactly does that entail? In a previous piece, I discussed what the general functions of any government are and how Pyongyang fails at them.