Planning The Future
"The North Korean regime has calculated that its survival depends on having a credible nuclear deterrent. Pyongyang has watched what has happened to those who did not have this, from Saddam Hussein to Muammar Gaddafi, and concluded that agreements with the international community, although they can be useful for extracting aid, will not in the end guarantee the Kim dynasty's continued hold on power -- only the possession of nukes will achieve this."
John Everard, former British Ambassador to North Korea
Monomaniacal tyrants like Saddam Hussein do have a penchant to bully their way in the world, and no method is more assured to inspire terror in the minds of those observing the determined efforts of the world's Gaddafi's and Ayatollahs and Dear Leaders than the inspiration to build nuclear arsenals - the better to keep the world nervous and uncertain, and therefore unwilling to attack.
On the other hand, there are those who would not agree with Mr. Everard, who feel that witnessing what occurred to Saddam Hussein, Moammar Gaddafi was convinced to surrender his own aspirations to nuclear achievement. One member of the infamous axis fell, but two have been left. And they appear to thrive in a brace of scientific and intelligence exchanges, encouraging and aiding one another in their joint quest to achieve supremacy in ballistic missiles and nuclear-tipped bombs.
Further, faster, more devastating. That they are censured by the world at large is hardly troubling to them, for they do have their supporters. There is China, for example, and Venezuela, countries themselves bullishly defiant to the world order, and complacent enough in their support for Iran and North Korea and their standoff against the United States, NATO countries and the United Nations and the IAEA.
That both Iran and North Korea have seen their economic prospects suffer through compelling sanctions means little; both are able to use state treasury in any way they deem needful, and their people, suffering shortages and worse, can do nothing in a tyrannical dictatorship and a clever public relations campaign convincing the people that they stand alone against the world, but they are nonetheless succeeding through their clever wiles.
It is difficult to differentiate offence from defence, sometimes. To understand when paranoia has completely overtaken and informed the defiant and deliberately belligerent actions of rogue states. Their manifestations of rage against their critics brings them even deeper into the conviction that their insistence on their right to destabilize their geographic regions through threat and violence is their right.
Those who stand in mute support and encouragement, like Russia and China don't much mind that the world's attention is rivetted on the nuclear-aspiring duo, since it takes attention away from their own machinations and corrupt actions. If it is nuclear advantages for Iran and North Korea, it is cyberwar for China and Russia that rivets their minds, along with hegemonic power.
In a power-hungry world with one nation extending its influence over others, championing the unnerving and destabilizing programs of others to build alliances, the world itself teeters on the edge of uncertainty and danger, never quite knowing what next will occur to bring concern to regions of the world under siege.
Labels: Armaments, China, Conflict, Controversy, Iran, North Korea, Nuclear Technology, Russia
posted by Pieface @ Friday, February 22, 2013
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