The ongoing Six-Party Talks in Beijing are poised to settle many questions, but one question looms over all others. Are the negotiations an earnest attempt by all parties to achieve denuclearization? Or are they simply a stage for insincere, ultimately empty, political theater? James Walsh, the then executive director of the Managing the Atom Project at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, attempted to tackle this question by drawing on his impressions gleaned from recent meetings with officials in the DPRK. Walsh began by reporting that the officials with whom he met had made numerous, sometimes surprising, remarks on the negotiations. For example, they asserted that denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula had been Kim Il-Sung's "dying wish," as a way of suggesting just how ardently they are committed to the achievement of this goal. Walsh also reported that the officials also seemed to be committed to engagement with the outside world. Noting that both military and trade officials cited increased foreign direct investment as one of their top priorities, he was surprised when they asked him if Harvard could send them marketing and accounting textbooks. Still, he noted, the road is still far from clear of obstacles as both sides are at loggerheads over the North's demand for a light water reactor. And though pro-engagement figures are steering policy on both sides, forces that favor confrontation are watching them closely and warily. What's vital at this point, Walsh added, was that the negotiators work towards building a "fault tolerant" relationship. During protracted talks it's inevitable that events will strain the participants' mutual trust, but such strains shouldn't be allowed to derail the diplomatic process. In a closing assessment of the talks currently underway, Walsh said "I think there's a 30-percent chance [the talks] are meaningful, and that in five years we'll be somewhere."

Wednesday, November 2, 2005

About the Speaker

The North Korean Nuclear Talks: Shadow or Substance?

with

James Walsh
Executive Director, Managing the Atom Project
Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government

Jim Walsh is an expert in international security and executive director of the Managing the Atom project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Walsh’s research and writing focuses on international security; in particular, topics that involve weapons of mass destruction and terrorism. Walsh has testified before the U.S. Senate on the issue of nuclear terrorism and chairs the International Working Group on Radiological Weapons at Harvard University. Among his current projects are a series of dialogues on nuclear issues, one with representatives from North Korea and one with leading figures in Iran. Before joining Harvard University, Walsh was a visiting scholar at the Center for Global Security Research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, one the country’s three nuclear weapons labs. Walsh has been named a Jennings Randolph Peace Scholar by the United States Institute of Peace and won the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship from the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Walsh received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.