If we lived in a world where everything went according to plan, Napoleon would have conquered Russia, Tokyo would be about to hold the Olympics, and President Hillary Clinton would be seeking re-election.

Planning is a useful exercise — one that teases out possibilities and diverging expectations and interests. But in a world where few things actually go according to plan, the existence of a plan by itself does not confirm the planners are prepared.

The way we currently talk about preparing for a Korean contingency is broken. It is too stuck on the notion of