At university, I pursued a course on American foreign policy with the late Harry Howe Ransom. We began by studying diplomacy, the work of Harold Nicholson and various other topics. I authored a thesis on the idea of consensus in foreign policy. At that time, and still in my mind, I believe that history shows the rational use of consensus serves the cause of reason and reasonableness in foreign affairs.

Unfortunately, consensus can’t change an enemy’s mind. It can’t alter the realities of power that obstruct peace. A determined enemy isn’t convinced by entreaties of reasonableness in many instances. There are other realities in international relations that limit what foreign policy by consensus can accomplish in a particular context.

These matters come to mind when reading Kim Jong-un’s recent pronouncements that North Korea no longer will seek peaceful reunification with South Korea. On the one hand, this means little, as North Korea has never sought peaceful reunification with the South. Its operative policies don’t incline to reason or reasonableness as a historical fact. Reunification has been the entreaty, while power projection, autarky and........

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