Bryce Harper – John Middleton, U.S. – North Korea

After America returned from Vietnam without a deal, The New York Times carried an opinion piece March 1, 2019, titled: “The Failure of the U.S. – North Korea Talks,” wherein they referred to the “hazards” of “personal diplomacy.”
But don’t we need a changed approach to North Korea, given that all of our efforts over the last 70 years there have only led to an ever-more powerful and dangerous North Korea? Isn’t it time to go through a different door? Professionals have berated the president for showing Kim Jong-un respect by standing side-by-side with him, with our flag and their flag at the same level. He is also sneered at for corresponding with Kim personally.
But let’s stand back for a moment and look at Kim from a different angle. He’s a very young man dealing with different circumstances from what his grandfather and father dealt with, and he’s finding their tactics aren’t working any longer. Who knows, maybe he is approachable.
At his young age, he has the weight of a very strained, even desperate, nation on his shoulders. Is it possible the adage, “You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar,” could apply here? It seems we are trying to be flesh and blood to Kim, personal, not strictly business.
And look where the meeting took place – in Vietnam, this former war-torn nation and hot-war enemy of the U.S. is prospering and even looking to the U.S. as a counterweight to North Korea’s ancient enemy, China. Obviously, we are showing Kim that he can prosper while not being squashed by a hulking China. 
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While our approach to North Korea is under criticism, John Middleton, the owner of the Phillies, achieved one of the biggest coups in baseball history with his personal approach to Bryce Harper. As Middleton clearly understood, some things are just too big to be left to underlings.
Middleton wanted Harper, and he left no stone unturned to bring him to Philadelphia. He met personally with Harper for hours on end. They got together with their wives and talked.
Middleton knew that the money alone was not going to reel in Harper; he had to know the man as an individual and understand what in life was important to him. He knew that he could not get that working through a glove, that is, working through other people.
Through all of their hours of discussion, what they learned about one another was that first and foremost, they both want to win. They both were financially fixed; more money was not the issue, playing to win is their mutual passion. While Harper spoke to other teams, he was sold on the man, sold on Middleton, and that is what turned the day. 
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What is going to turn the day with Kim? This man answers to nobody. What is going to make him happy? What is going to cause him to get joy out of life? When we can answer that question, we may well have the key which settles America’s and North Korea’s hostile stance with one another.
Hard, cold negotiations have not worked for the better part of a century. Ongoing international sanctions, plus an improved knowledge of Kim as an individual, may be the combination to ultimately bring about reconciliation and lead to our future security.