World Spotlight
Games Dictators Play
Diplomats don't get paid to be blunt (at least not in public), but here's the undiplomatic truth: no one involved in negotiating with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il over nukes expects a smooth process. "If you're asking whether anyone thought the road to total disarmament would be completely straightforward," says an official who until recently was closely involved in the so-called six-party talks, "with no backsliding, no new demands, no different interpretations of timetables or whatever, then no, the answer is, of course not."
Which is why no one is particularly surprised by the latest disagreement....