10 of the most inspirational political events of 2018

10. North Korea decided to play nice

North Korea spent most of 2017 promising “fire and fury” against the United States, making its 2018 turnabout a particularly shocking development. In April of this year, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the South Korean side of the Joint Security Area that divides the two nations. This was the first-ever time that a North Korean leader had stepped onto South Korean soil after the 1950-1953 Korean War.

In June, U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un met for the first time in a much-anticipated summit held in Singapore. The meeting greatly relieved international anxiety, especially when Kim stated that he was willing to significantly dismantle his country’s nuclear weapons. The prospect of a denuclearized North Korea came with a price, however: the United States has to scale back its own program and military presence in the region.

There are some reasons for caution, of course. North Korean leadership can be volatile, to say the least. There’s historic and political precedent for Kim Jong-un and others in his nation’s government to turn and go back to threatening the United States with nuclear destruction. That’s been a significant part of North Korean rhetoric and political thought for generations now.

Will it really be that simple for Kim’s overtures to turn it all around, even if it means an uneasy peace between his country and the United States? Neither is Trump or the United States in general likely to do away with its own nuclear program.

Even then, there is no doubt that this was a major change in North Korea’s relationship with the world beyond its borders. Developments like this, especially in light of earlier doomsday-like threats, are a relief.