North Korea and Human Learning

I am speaking of Japan, China and South Korea, and the addition of Kim Jong-in, a young, unknown and seemingly volatile North Korean dictator to the list makes it a potentially critical situation: hasty or aggressive action by any of them could bring serious consequences, particularly without the checks and balances that normally are present to contain them. William Hague's warning of the need to keep calm and not over-react may have been intended more for these other nations than his British audience, and the American cancellation of a planned missile test was prudent under the circumstances. Many years ago, when I was training at the Junior Defence Staff College, we spent some time considering the steps that could lead to war, and I remember well the analyses of a hypothetical land the leader of which had nuclear weapons to deploy, and who was mad. It was the worst scenario possible, particularly if he was all-powerful without responsible political or military opposition. How do you deal with someone in total authority who lacks reason? It may be that Kim (and his formidable family mentors) is sabre-rattling to prove himself and his country to the outside world, and perhaps to persuade the US to give more aid; there is no doubt that the consequences of escalation for North Korea and her people would be disastrous - but it requires common sense to see this. Meanwhile, it was inevitable that allowing global nuclear proliferation would result in dangerous weapons ending up, one day, in the wrong hands, and not just North Korea's. It is such a pity that these weapons of mass destruction were ever created, and still exist now: we could have done so much better to keep the world safe and the human journey of learning might have been easier and more comfortable; but that was our choice, and from here we move on.]]>