On North Korea, in today’s Washington Post:

It’s entirely possible that Western negotiators will return from Beijing next week talking about “signs of progress.” Diplomatic atmospherics are among the many scarce goods that Pyongyang presumes to regulate and ration. But any genuine progress toward a diplomatic resolution of the nuclear impasse cannot be expected without fundamental — even revolutionary — changes in outlook and policy on the part of North Korea’s leadership. None of the options Washington and its allies face in North Korea is pleasant — but the time has come to face them squarely, without diplomatic illusion.