Whether or not we believe the claim by US officials who were traveling with Pence that he was not snubbing North Korean representatives, one thing is for sure: the U.S. is still seeking a parental role in how it interacts with other nations. That has been the case for a long time as the U.S. has continually ordained itself as the leader of the free world. And here we should note that such a description is an oxymoron. Those nations that are free don't need other nations to lead them. And those nations that lead other nations are not leading free nations.
What the press saw as representing America was Pence's snubbing of North Korea at the Olympics. This snubbing took place when Pence refused to stand for the united Korea team as it entered the stadium. It also took place when Pence skipped a dinner by walking out early where the North Korean delegation was present.
The claim of U.S. officials, who were traveling with Pence, that Pence did not snub the North Koreans is simply not credible. For if Pence only stood for the American team, the one he is rooting for, then he snubbed most of the world as well as the North Koreans. The Olympics are about more than just winning; the Olympics are about bringing the world together to compete in ways that promote peace and good will. The two Koreas understood that by combining their teams. But Pence apparently does not understand that.
But the walking out on the dinner early so as to not sit with the North Koreans can't be explained in any other way that that of deliberately snubbing Noth Korea. And if we add to that the stern threats of imposing stricter sanctions on North Korea, it all but cements the role that the U.S. is taking in the world. The U.S. is seeking to lead other nations as a parent would try to manage one's children include a difficult child. And either the other nations in the world are peers with the U.S. and thus showing that the U.S. is not their leader, or the U.S. expects the other nations of the world to submit to it as children submit to their parents showing that the world the America leads is not free.
But times are a changing. And two things that show that the times are a changing are: first, that the two Koreas cooperated with each other to compete as one nation andthey did that without any assistance from the U.S. shows a growing independence from America; and second, technology is creating more military parity between the nations.
That second thing that shows that the world is changing can be seen in North Korea's military power. It is a nuclear power. And outside of war or self-isolation from the world, there isn't much that America can do about it in the long term. Here we should note that with nuclear weapons, North Korea is approaching a military parity with the U.S. That parity doesn't mean that North Korea has the navy, army, or air force we have. And that doesn't mean that North Korea has the nuclear arsenal we have. But what it does mean is that North Korea now has a powerful deterrent it could resort to if another nation was thinking of attacking it. So what that the U.S. could obliterate North Korea while North Korea may only be able to take out a few cities. That North Korea could take out a few of our cites means that our leaders should have more reason to pause than ever when considering taking military actions against North Korea. And since technology makes the proliferation of WMDs inevitable, what we are seeing today with the changing relationship between North Korea and America, is what we will see in America's relationships with other nations and actors tomorrow.
Back in the mid 1950s, a divided nation, with the help of the international community, decided on using a democratic process to decide on reunification. That decision was included in the Geneva Accords. But the leader of the free world didn't agree with the decision and that was followed by South Vietnam refusing to sign the Geneva Accords despite participating in the discussions. And so a war continued, war hat began when America tried to help France recolonize Vietnam, as the U.S. continued to send advisors and back a dictatorship in South Vietnam. Some 20-plus years after starting to help the French, America was still mired in Vietnam only now it sent much of its military there rather than just some advisors. And tens of thousands of Americans died because of that intervention along with millions of Vietnamese civilians.
It's not just the future that is telling America to change its role in the world, it is the present. But Pence's snubbing of the North Korea team and delegation does not bode well in America's response to the world.
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