Canada lends help in N. Korean crisis

This week, after the North Korean regime fired another intercontinental ballistic missile — apparently with longer range than any demonstrated before — an international summit was announced. Global leaders from concerned nations and influential regional powers will gather next month to try de- escalating the alarming nuclear crisis.

That’s nothing new. Diplomats have been jaw-jawing about North Korea’s nuclear program for more than two decades. But one detail is new: Canada will be hosting the summit.

Co- hosting, to be precise. The U. S. will be our partner in next month’s meeting in Vancouver. It’s expected to draw foreign ministers from 16 nations ( it will not include the North Koreans), and is aimed at defusing a crisis that’s brought the world closer to using nuclear weapons than at any time since the Cold War.

We’re skeptical much will come of it. International diplomacy has come up short before, and the North Koreans have flouted every prior agreement. With the regime’s missiles now capable of striking anywhere in North America, and its nuclear weapons more powerful than ever, the regime is unlikely to back off now. The Kim family has preferred letting North Koreans starve to sacrificing its weapons progress, so it’s hard to imagine what the world could possibly offer that would persuade or scare Pyongyang.

Still, notwithstanding our skepticism, we support Canada’s involvement here. Canada is not generally a major player in East Asia. We enjoy warm relations and trade links with several nations in the region, but our connection to North Korea is limited and our military capability in the region is essentially non-existent. We have little to offer.

Except, of course, our good offices. And that’s not nothing. Despite the annoying habit of certain governments pretending that Canada is neutral in the community of nations, the reality is that Canada has always been a proud and often productive member of the Western alliance. Working with our allies and regional actors, and contributing to global peace and a rulesbased international system, is something we must do more of.