Scholars, advocates, and activists seeking to make the U.S. a more responsible global partner.
North Korea
Bucks for the Bang: North Korea’s Nuclear Program and Northeast Asian Military Spending

Bucks for the Bang: North Korea’s Nuclear Program and Northeast Asian Military Spending

by | May 7, 2010

Delineating the impact of North Korea’s nuclear program on overall military spending among the other principal states of Northeast Asia is challenging. This article presents a foundation to address that challenge. After summarizing key elements of North Korea’s nuclear program, the article introduces frameworks to examine the security consequences of the program for the Northeast Asian region and assess North Korea’s motivations to pursue nuclear capabilities. The reviews indicate how these frameworks can be used to deduce hypotheses of more specific linkages of North Korea’s activities to other states’ military spending decisions, some strategically motivated and others more influenced by symbolism and domestic politics. The article concludes with observations on contemporary developments derived from the analysis.

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The Israeli Exception

by | May 4, 2010

North Korea and Israel have a lot in common.

Neither is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and both employ their nuclear weapons in elaborate games of peek-a-boo with the international community. Israel and North Korea are equally paranoid about outsiders conspiring to destroy their states, and this paranoia isn’t without some justification. Partly as a result of these suspicions, both countries engage in reckless and destabilizing foreign policies. In recent years, Israel has launched preemptive strikes and invaded other countries, while North Korea has abducted foreign citizens and blown up South Korean targets (including, possibly, a South Korean ship in late March in the Yellow Sea).

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Starting Where North Korea Is

by | May 3, 2010

Social workers are fond of saying that they must start where their clients are. This basic principle of social work is not theoretical. It comes from decades of practice. Simply telling people what they should do rarely translates into their actually doing “the right thing.” So instead, social workers have turned the tables by beginning not with the desired endpoint, as determined by the social work profession, but with the client’s articulated fears and concerns.

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Choco Pies vs. Cold Noodles

by | Mar 2, 2010

In the blockbuster 2000 film JSA, two South Korean soldiers accidentally find themselves on the North Korean side of the Joint Security Area, at the border between the two countries. They meet their North Korean counterparts. But instead of fighting, the four soldiers become friends and arrange several midnight get-togethers. At the height of their secret fraternization, one of the South Korean soldiers brings over several Choco Pies, cookies with marshmallow covered in chocolate that are wildly popular in South Korea.

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Invite North Korea to the Global Nuclear Security Summit

Invite North Korea to the Global Nuclear Security Summit

by | Feb 9, 2010

North Korea fired hundreds of artillery shells into waters near the disputed western sea border with the South last week, and the South Korean military returned warning shots, heightening the already high tension on the peninsula. The rising tension came amidst recent signals from Pyongyang that it wanted to negotiate a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War. If peace negotiations began, Pyongyang could return to the Six Party Talks on ending its nuclear programs.

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Bill’s Excellent Adventure

by | Aug 11, 2009

Jimmy Carter, the saying goes, was destined to be a great former president. The jury is still out on Bill Clinton, but he certainly accomplished his mission to Pyongyang quickly and successfully.

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Dealing with North Korea’s Tests

by , | Jun 19, 2009

North Korea has conducted its second nuclear test. The big question now is whether the world’s response will recognize the unique features of this most recent intensification of the crisis, and so effectively answer Pyongyang’s latest challenge to global nuclear stability and the embryonic disarmament renaissance.

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