Lets begin with the good news. Tuesdays Singapore summit between President Donald Trump and North Koreas leader Kim Jung Un could have been a disaster, and it wasnt. Whats more, there remains the hope slender, but real that the conversation and resulting joint statement by the two leaders could be a springboard to future diplomacy.
If that happens, and if the diplomacy grows to include measurable commitments to change by North Korea, so long propped up by propaganda and prison camps, then Tuesdays summit could become the breakthrough moment Trump has declared it to be.
But aspirations are flimsy material upon which to lean, but for now high hopes are all we have been left with. In his eagerness to make history, the president conceded much. What we have to show for it is exceedingly small, at least so far. Certainly, North Korea has made no firm commitments.
