When the late British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was asked how he would describe the greatest challenge facing a statesman, he had a pithy response: “events, dear boy, events.”

Did Macmillan actually say this?  Probably not, historians conclude. But the quote has made its way into countless commentaries because it is a constant friend to reporters and analysts (like me) looking for a quick and pithy lede. More to the point, it captures how much of statecraft is responding to things that happen – whether planned or not.

And as unpredictable as the world of North Korea policy may