North Korea and Nuclear Weapons Proliferation

Despite the best efforts of mainstream news anchors to convince the public otherwise, North Korean is a rational actor—according to former Ambassador to Estonia and nonproliferation expert Joseph DeThomas. Social scientists have proposed that intergenerational trauma is possible in nations, most notably in Jewish populations post-Holocaust, and may affect group decisions and mentality. DeThomas says North Korea is, then, “A mean dog surrounded by wolves.” A history of invasion, occupation, and destruction—most recently aggravated by the Korean War—influences North Korean governance to act as the aggressive defender. The prospects of nuclear disarmament, without violent invasion (a million deaths, a trillion dollars), are bleak—as the North Koreans know ICBMs to be their trump card in international relations.