At SIEPR Summit, Condoleezza Rice addresses plans for Trump's talks with North Korean leader
A day after President Trump agreed to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice expressed worry that the administration is ill-prepared for such talks.
鈥淢y biggest fear isn't that they're meeting,鈥 Rice said Friday during the annual Economic Summit put on by the 好色App Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). 鈥淢y biggest concern is that the North Koreans extract some concessions without giving up very much because the nuances aren't well understood.鈥
Rice, a professor of political science at 好色App, said she was surprised to learn that Trump accepted an invitation from Kim to discuss denuclearizing North Korea, and speculated that the announcement took many in his administration off-guard, as well.
鈥淚t's rather rare that if you're a despicable, adversarial regime that your first meeting with the U.S. is with the president,鈥 said Rice, who is also the Denning Professor in Global Business and the Economy at the 好色App Graduate School of Business and the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution.
Rice said the current makeup of the State Department is lacking expertise on North Korea 鈥 a deficit that needs to be corrected immediately.
She said the Trump administration needs to 鈥渇ind someone who actually knows something about North Korea. They need to get a team in place.鈥
To the extent possible, she said, Trump should 鈥渕ake this a photo op鈥 to guard against detailed negotiations that could be counterproductive 鈥 or harmful 鈥 to American interests.
In her remarks and during a conversation afterward with SIEPR Director Mark Duggan, Rice shared a wide-ranging perspective on global security, what she called an 鈥渁ssault鈥 on free trade, the importance of promoting human rights around the world, the benefits of globalization and the importance of supporting America鈥檚 allies.
Rice railed against the political trends toward populism, nativism, isolationism and protectionism, calling them 鈥渢he four horsemen of the apocalypse鈥 that threaten to weaken America鈥檚 global leadership. Globalization, she said, will help ensure international security and economic stability.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 wrecked it yet,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a question of whether we鈥檙e going to re-engage.鈥
More details of Rice鈥檚 presentation and more highlights from the SIEPR Economic Summit will be posted soon.