In a 297-page report entitled “Preparing for the Possibility of a North Korean Collapse,” Bruce Bennett of the Rand Corporation doesn’t examine the ways in which a North Korean collapse would come about so much as the preparatory steps that could mitigate the negative effects.

In his analysis, the lack of coordinated contingencies between the key players on the peninsula –China, the United States and South Korea – greatly reduces the likelihood of successful unification should North Korea collapse, and could even lead to dangerous confrontations between Chinese and American/ROK forces.

The sooner we start talking the better, he argues.