Dimensions: 6'' x 9'' 340 pages AEI Press  (Washington) Publication Date: January 1999 Paperback ISBN: 0844740292 Price: $ 19.95 Add to Cart   Examination Copies

Indicators of the collapse of North Korea's communist regime increase daily. As conditions deteriorate in the "hermit kingdom," the rulers of isolationist North Korea have begged their adversaries for food, energy, and financial assistance. Even while facing famine, however, North Korea diverts scarce resources to offensive military capabilities--nuclear weapons and long range missiles--so that it can threaten mass destruction.

The words "crazy," "irrational," "erratic," and "bizarre" are often used to describe North Korea's negotiating behavior. None of them, however, accurately characterizes the cleverly devised, skillfully implemented, generally effective negotiating strategy pursued by this small, poor, and relatively powerless country.

How this small nation uses negotiation to advance domestic and international objectives deserves careful study. This book explains how North Korea has consistently won benefits that strengthen the regime's political control and improve its military capabilities despite the fact that it brings very little to the negotiating table. The consequences of this phenomenon are crucial to the security and prosperity of people everywhere.

Were it not for the regime's careful and clever management of the process of negotiation, few people outside the Korean peninsula would have reason to concern themselves with North Korea. But the negotiating process, and the regime’s manipulation of it, makes North Korea matter.

In this book, North Korea's strategy emerges from the broad sweep of its negotiating record--from the armistice negotiations, the discussions that were incidental to implementation of the armistice, the talks that resolved crises instigated by North Korea, the dialogue between South Korea and North Korea, and the multilateral negotiations to force North Korea to abide by its international nuclear commitments. Patterns emerge from this history, and the strategy this book exposes is intriguingly consistent and well designed.

Using previously unpublished accounts, Over the Line brings together for the first time the full record of North Korea's negotiations, describes motives and objectives, and assesses negotiating tactics. Chuck Downs draws important conclusions from the North’s manipulation of international talks and cautions policymakers to be alert to the regime's tactics. As a guide to negotiating with North Korea, Over the Line will provide policymakers with important background on how to deal with the rogue regime.

The author explores the role of espionage and infiltration, deception and brinkmanship, and provides an alarming prediction of the future course of North Korea’s relations with the United States and it allies.

Chuck Downs is former a senior foreign and defence policy adviser for the Republican Policy Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.