It is extremely difficult for even seasoned diplomats to decide with certainty whether the most intractable global problem the world's community of nations faces today is in the Mideast or in North Korea. Each issue has proved fiendishly difficult to resolve. Many keen observers, however, say North Korea presents the greater difficulty. It is hard to disagree.
The issues dividing Israelis and Palestinians are rooted in history and territorial imperative and complicated by political issues. Many Israelis and Palestinians, though, are moderates and have a sincere desire to resolve the issues that separate them. Their presence suggests there is some hope for eventual reconciliation. There's no such element or hope in North Korea.
That nation is isolated and ruled by a dictatorial government that ruthlessly quashes opposition and that punishes any expression of opinion other than the official party line. It's a given, too, that whenever North Koreans agree to international talks of any kind, they've got an ulterior motive.
That certainly appears to have been the case last week. North Korean officials agreed to meet with high-level U.S. officials in New York, ostensibly to discuss resumption of rearmament talks that broke down in 2009. There's no indication that progress toward that estimable goal was made.
Both sides provided official statements that termed the talks "constructive" and "businesslike." There was no indication, however, that eight hours of discussion over the course of two days between U.S. Ambassador Stephen Bosworth and North Korea's vice foreign minister will lead to a quick resumption of six-party disarmament discussions. That's hardly a surprise.
The United States, understandably, hoped the North Koreans would agree to resume the talks or at least to honor past agreements regarding its nuclear weapons programs. It did not. Instead, it seems, the North was on one of its familiar quests to see what it might be able to get in return for the promise rather than the practice of better behavior.
In this instance they apparently wanted more international shipments of food to avert widespread starvation caused in large part by government mismanagement. As is often the case, the North implied that it would use its nuclear capability or wreak havoc in the Far East if it did not get its way. It's a familiar tactic. Last year, when similar overtures went unheeded, North Korea sank a South Korean ship and shelled a South Korean island.
U.S. diplomats did not accede to North Korean wishes last week. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said earlier that the United States would not reward the North for just returning to negotiations or vague promises about old agreements. The United States, she said, requires more. She's correct, of course. Acceding to blackmail is never a wise diplomatic move.