The purpose of American foreign policy is to advance American interests. Yesterday, the Obama administration's diplomatic overtures secured the release of two American journalists from North Korea, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, and created a temporary thaw in relations that could potentially be used to curb North Korean nuclear ambitions. What did North Korea get? A photo-op with Bill Clinton. This is the equivalent of Tiger Woods telling a 12-year-old they have a nice swing. A little flattery goes a long way with this regime.
This however, isn't enough for John Bolton:
I worry that the outcome is a lot better for North Korea than for the United States. I mean this is a classic case of rewarding bad behavior, the seizure of these two basically innocent Americans. Obviously all of us want to get them out but we want it done in a way that doesn't increase the risks in the future for other Americans seized by North Korea, seized by Iran, seized by other despotic regimes and then turned into pawns to get senior officials like former presidents to come and legitimize the regime in order to get them out.
Even if we aren't able to capitalize diplomatically on this moment, I'd argue that the lives of Ling and Lee are worth it. As Spencer Ackerman writes, "No minimally serious cost/benefit assessment can result in a conclusion that the United States lost more than it gained here."
It's not clear what American interests would be served by a violent alternative, and the journalists' release could not have been secured by Bolton-style bullying. The White House secured a favorable outcome for the administration and for Ling and Lee. You'd think the purpose of American foreign policy wasn't to further American interests but rather to make conservative pundits feel like big swinging sausages. Anything that doesn't do that is a failure.
-- A. Serwer
