Lesson from North Korea

…because that's where we are

When we say appeasement what comes to mind is Hitler, Chamberlin, Munich, Putin, Crimea, Minsk and other surrenders in a deluded hope of feeding a tyrant’s voracious appetite for territory and subjugation. But perhaps it’s time to apply the term and lessons to the new bully in town, Trump. He too demands territory (Greenland, Canada, Panama Canal), one-sided ‘agreements’, extortionate ‘deals’, hectoring, bullying and handing over other countries over their heads to the only people he respects and fears: the even bigger bully and tyrant.

Let Europe continue dreaming that all they must do is spend more on defence, do some deal with Trump on tariffs or whatever other crackpot scheme he comes up with and all will be quiet again but they’ll find he just comes back for more. Let the UK delude itself that it can be a ‘bridge’ and it will quickly discover there is no beachhead on the other side. Those who appease tyrants are repeatedly humiliated but they are in for more humiliation when the tyrant returns with even greater demands.

I cannot believe I’m saying this, but North Korea should be a lesson to all. During his first term, Trump went to the UN threatening to “totally destroy” the country and then the master dealmaker offered Kim Jong-un a summit but North Korea laughed in his stupid face calling his rants the ‘dotage of a dotard’. And guess what? North Korea gave nothing and Trump has largely forgotten about them. Vance has nothing to say about North Korea, no public hectoring, no threats, no deals, no sanctions, no name calling. Nothing.

Because it’s the only language tyrants and bullies understand.