A Way Forward in the North Korea Crisis

There is nothing the US can do to North Korea that will lead to its renunciation of its nuclear weapons program. That is because North Korea already holds US allies hostage to violence we cannot control—and may already or will soon pose a similar threat to the US homeland—and thus presents an unacceptable risk of retaliation for any American offensive military action. There is nothing the US can do for North Korea that might induce it to denuclearize, because keeping North Korea on a war footing vis-à-vis the US keeps the regime of Kim Jong Un in power. There is nothing the international community, including China, can do to North Korea by enforcing sanctions, or for North Korea by relieving it of sanctions, that would convince North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons because the regime is convinced, with some reason, that it is only the threats it poses to others that keep it from suffering regime change. Nevertheless, the US cannot tolerate or co-exist with a North Korean nuclear capability; that is because such a capability would deter the US from protecting its allies were they threatened, extorted or attacked by North Korea. This result would risk dissolution of the American-Pacific alliance and the rapid proliferation of nuclear weapons to former allies that had become intensely nationalistic and anti-American. There is however one option that has yet to be considered and that has some promise. *** On September 3, 2017, North Korea conducted a test...
Source: TIME.com: Top Science and Health Stories - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized North Korea Source Type: news