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TheSingaporeSummit-OldPolemicsandtheHopeofWileE.Coyote (ApostSummitre.lection) by

BarryAustinGoodBield,Ph.D.,DABFM

PerhapsoneofthemostimportantlessonsthatwecanlearnfromWileE.Coyote

asateacherisnotjusttenacitybutthewisdomtoneverlookdown.RemembertheLooneyTunes andMerrieMelodiesseriesofcartoonswhenWileE.Coyotetriestoeat theRoadRunner? On themoment theRoadRunnerandCoyotewerenose tonoseandCoyote lookeddownand therealizationstruckhimthathewas theonlyone not standing on solid ground but magically able to de.ine gravity andcommonsense, itwas at that time that reality came crashing in.When unrealistichopewasconfrontedbyfactualreality.

WhenPresidentDonaldTrumpreturnedhomeanddeclared“success”inhisattemptto address and resolve the issues of the denuclearization of theKoreanPeninsulasomewillseehimas thepersoni.icationofWileE.Coyote.Defyingcommonsenseandstandardizedprinciplesofdiplomaticnegotiations.

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One can re.lect upon a somewhat similar paradoxical interaction in AmericanhistoryleadingtothesigninginDecember1987oftheIntermediate-RangeNuclearForcesTreaty,betweena54yearold,youngandenergetic,MikhailGorbachevandanaging,elderly76yearoldRonaldReagan.

Bothadversaries inthiscasewereyoungerthenthepresidentoftheUnitedStateswhen they sat across a negotiation table. Both Gorbachev and Kim Jong-unwereleadersofcountriessufferingmajoreconomichardshipatableakfuture.Gorbachev,facingaseeminglyendlessstruggleinAfghanistanandthethreatofStarWarsasitwascalledintheUnitedStates.KimJong-un,alsoisfacingmajoreconomichardshipinhiscountryaswellasinternationalisolationasaworldthreat.

Bothsidesmustseekpoliticalsolutionsforthesakeofhumanity.Thehostelrhetoricwrappedinirrationalpolemics—boldactionseemednecessarytobothleaders.Strange as it may seem, the integration of paradox is faith, and so it is in thiscircumstance,hopeandfaithcanovercomedoubtanddisbelief.

WhyisthecomparisonbetweenGorbachevandKimJong-un—ReaganandTrumpappropriate?Allfacedseriousskepticismbasedonhistoricexperienceandwhattomany seems like common sense. Both Reagan and Trump echoed the Russianproverb, Доверяй, но проверяй; “Trust, but verify.” This cautionary remarkre.lected the need for hope and skepticism in the face of major possibility ofsigni.icantgeopoliticalchange.

Risk taking is in direct proportion to growth. Risk taking requires by de.initionpeoplewhoarewillingandreadytoconfronttheimprobableandunlikely,withhopeandeyeswideopen.

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IsthiswhatweseewithKimandTrump?Ofcourse,weallhopeforpeacebutarewewilling to bet on the skill andmotivation of these two improbable proponents, ofwhatseemstomanybasedonyearsofexperience,tobeanimpossibledream?

It seems to me, that the answer is simple — armed with the logical andphilosophicalpositionof“trust,butverify”wehavenothingtoloseandeverythingtogain.

If these two Singapore survivors are able to sell their improbable dream to theirpeople,whohavebeenschooledforyearstodistrustanythingsaidbytheother,thatthesimilaritiesbetweenNorthKoreaandthecaseof theUSSRforReagan,andhisdealingswithGorbachevwarrantyconsideration.

Turningcrisis tocreativityandopposition toopportunity iswhatallof thesemenhaveincommon.Itisaneeddrivenproposition.Theiractionswerepredicatedonabelief in their own personal skills, rhetoric, and negotiation abilities. PresidentTrump’sdesire to sit alonewithChairmanKim Jong-un, eachwitha simultaneoustranslator,harkensbacktothedaywhenGorbachevandReagansatalonewiththeirtranslatorsandspokeastwopeople.Asimprobableasitmayhaveseemed,seekingcommon ground with common sense produced life-saving, good judgment andtreatiesthatbene.itedusall.

The challenge is more than tactics and techniques it is overcoming the naturalhuman tendency to resist change in the faceofopportunity. If adividedAmericanpeople canunite aroundopportunity as apposed tooppositionwemaybeable toreduce,andperhapseveneradicate, thethreatposedbyNorthKorea’sweaponsofmassdestruction.

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Doesanewdayawaitusall?Perhapsthesuspendedofnegative judgmentsbythe“national naysayers” and a belief in the hopes shown byWile E. Coyote, with hisimprobableaspirationsmightturntheSingaporeSummitofChairmanKimJong-unandPresidentDonaldTrumpintoanimprobablerealitysavingourlifeandthelivesofourchildren.Whoknows,wemighteven.indpeacebeforethepredictedfallthatsomeskepticsimagine.

ref.:Trust, but verify (Russian: Доверяй, но проверяй; Doveryai, no proveryai) is a Russian proverbpictures:Gewoonnieuws.nl LooneyTunesandMerrieMelodiesNewYorkPost

©June16,2018Good0ieldInstitute

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