The Hanoi Summit – We Asked 80 Experts What Happens Next in U.S.-North Korea Relation
The world’s top North Korea and national security experts discuss the aftermath of a summit that ended in a way almost no one expected. Are we headed back to the days of “Rocket Man” or is a third summit right around the corner?
Editor’s Note: Please see other past North Korea symposiums featuring a collection of essays on what U.S.-North Korea relations will look like in 2019 as well as 76 different predictions on the now past Hanoi Summit.
Some have called it the Hanoi Holdup. Many have called it a total failure. Others, such as myself, were hopeful that history would be made. Personally, I had big expectations going into the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
Nonetheless, we are once again at a familiar place in U.S.-North Korea relations: another crossroads where dialogue could turn into disaster, or where failed talked in Hanoi could spark a flurry of diplomacy, with both sides realizing a repeat of the events of 2017 may not end in summitry, but a series of escalatory incidents where neither side feels they can walk back from the brink.
As we have done on two separate occasions over the last few months, The Center for the National Interest’s New Korean Studies Program in partnership with The National Interest asked the world’s best experts the following question: Where do U.S.-North Korea relations go in the aftermath of the Hanoi summit?
Below, you will find a varied collection of the all responses we received to this simple yet important question. Special emphasis in our outreach efforts was placed on reaching out to voices in Korea, scholars outside of the United States and especially the beltway. In addition, we focused on ensuring gender balance, seeking out the top female voices across the globe.
Thank you to all who participated.
Christine Ahn, Graham Allison, Naoko Aoki, Frank Aum
Doug Bandow, Abigail Bard, Alexandra Bell, Bruce Bennett, Neil Bhatiya, Ian Bremmer
Ted Galen Carpenter, Gordon Chang, Mary Chesnut, Chiew-Ping Hoo, Joe Cirincione, Michael Cohen, Lindsay Cohn, Erin Connolly, Ralph Cossa, Patrick Cronin
Jung Da-min, Daniel Davis, Malcolm Davis, Abraham Denmark, Daniel DePetris
Erica Fein, Zhu Feng, Henri Féron, Karl Friedhoff
Lyle Goldstein, Eric Gomez, John Dale Grover
Stephan Haggard, Peter Harris, John Hemmings, Kate Hewitt, Richard Javad Heydarian, James Holmes, Jihwan Hwang
Amber Jamil, Se Young Jang, Dagyum Kate Ji
Harry J. Kazianis, Jeongmin Kim, Joon-hyung Kim, Soo Kim, Sung-han Kim, Minseon Ku, Timo Kivimäki
Christopher Lawrence, Cynthia Lazaroff, Kristine Lee, Mitchell Lerner, Grace Liu
Narushige Michishita, Katharine Moon
Joshua Nezam, John Nilsson-Wright, Stephen Noerper
Ankit Panda, Ramon Pacheo Pardo, Jihyun Park, Rosa Park
Bill Richardson, Cheryl Rofer, Denny Roy
Alicia Sanders-Zakre, David Santoro, Patricia Schouker, Elizabeth Shim, Tim Shorrock, Leon Sigal, Devin Stewart, Abigail Stowe-Thurston