A new glasnost forged by Trump and Kim over plates of crispy pork

THE holding of the Singapore summit was in itself a great achievement. But just where Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un take it now will determine its success.

ANALYSIS

SECURITY strategists will tell you the world’s great powers will do what they will and the weak powers do what they must.

The Singapore summit was to allow Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un work out who was which in this evolving strategic world order.

Cautiously the signs suggest we are in for a Cold War-esque era of glasnost with this signed lofty two-page denuclearisation document and although there is no timeline or detail, it is an amazing result given the confused messaging in their “I-love-you-I-hate-you-I love-you” rhetoric over the past 12 months.

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The Singapore summit was to allow Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un work out who was which in this evolving strategic world order.

These two nuclear-armed foes appeared on the verge of conflict late last year as they slung personal insults and Kim conducted nuclear and missile tests and Trump aggressive regional military posturing exercises.

The confusion has been coupled with the grave domestic challenges of both nations, where reclusive North Korea is facing near starvation and ever tightening sanctions including by ally China and in America where Trump has been battling his own administration, an FBI probe, and a frustrated Congress now alleging he has personally breached the constitution.

Historically, embattled world leaders make dangerous decisions (or late night tweets) that can lead to catastrophic consequences for the rest of us and none more so than Australia given our geographical position close to the peninsula and binding alliance with America.

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Just the fact the first momentous meeting took place at all gives hope there can be realistic positives that will flow.

So the Singapore summit was as much about these two personalities figuring out where they stood on the world stage as it was about striking a deal to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions in exchange for easing of crippling sanctions and, in the isolated regime’s own words, allowing it to become a “normal” country.

The men were full of praise for each other and will both look like victors domestically, more so Kim who didn't need to pledge any irreversible or verifiable change as the US had demanded.

Ironically just getting this far may not have been possible but for this pair’s unique personalities so the lack of detail from the “Summit of the Century” cannot be judged harshly.

It’s a long process.

Their two countries have been enemies for three generations so a meeting between the first sitting US president and a leader of a country long reviled as a member of an axis of evil has in itself made this a great global historic moment.

US President Donald Trump meets North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Sentosa Island in Singapore.

The Trump-Kim meeting was only for 40 minutes which is not very long when you consider the time it takes to conduct a conversation between leaders via translators. So how much was ever to be achieved in terms of an actual security timetable was questionable.

But just the fact the first momentous meeting took place at all gives hope there can be realistic positives that will flow, according to Trump as early as today with Kim moving to destroy a missile site.

Personal relationships can make a difference, just look at the Cold War and what was achieved once Ronald Reagan met with Mikhail Gorbachev or the visit of former US president Richard Nixon to China in 1972. There could be a similar glasnost outcome to this.

Trump said from the brief encounter rounded out by a beef ribs and crispy pork lunch, the men now had a “excellent relationship”.

But the unprecedented meeting’s success can only be measured by how these men conduct themselves in the weeks and months from now and what real outcomes take place.