EVENT: Book Talk: Fallout by Joel S. Wit

On American “miscalculations, misunderstandings, and myths.”

Wit, a fellow in Asian Security Studies at the Henry L. Stimson Center, draws on more than 300 interviews—and his own astute observations as a participant in decades of roller-coaster nuclear weapons negotiations—for his fast-paced and eye-opening account of North Korean–American nuclear weapons diplomacy. The author reveals a fascinating terrain of shifting priorities and players that are shaping an increasingly dangerous world. He brings considerable clarity and pithy writing to bear on a confusing muddle of ambivalent diplomacy, political infighting, and changes in direction that have marked U.S. attempts to thwart North Korea’s efforts to join the ranks of nuclear powers. Process, politics, and personalities are foregrounded as the baton passes from president to president over six administrations, from Jimmy Carter to Donald Trump. The author’s adroit descriptions capture the flavor and pace of events. Throughout, the story circles back to the chilling consequences if diplomacy fails and the world tips into nuclear conflict—a possibility that motivates participants on all sides to continue the dialogue, even when it proceeds by fits and starts or stalls entirely. He writes, “Today, North Korea can inflict devastation on major American cities, killing hundreds of thousands and possibly millions of people in thirty minutes, a far cry from 1994 when it didn’t even have a single nuclear weapon.” Ultimately, Wit says, “two presidents, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, bear special responsibility since the greatest threat emerged during their time in office.” North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is presented here in a nuanced portrait as the leader of a small country “engaged in provocative behavior intended to convince Washington to take it seriously.” This intriguing survey of a critical global struggle is readable and sobering. Those wishing to dive deeper will find ample footnotes pointing to primary sources.