Introduction
It is no secret that the ambitious leaders of the Nation of North Korea have been defiant of world powers, and have been actively seeking to obtain nuclear weapons, for the past thirty (30) years. While the motive behind the desire to possess these weapons remains unclear, it is safe to assume that very little good will come, if these weapons are possessed by the military powers that govern this nation. An assessment of the case studies cited within the references section, teaches us about the position that the U.S. has held, with respect to these deadly weapons. As a background, the nation of North Korea was first documented in its pursuit in March of 1984 (James et.al, n.d). It is at this point that intelligence indicated that a nuclear reactor was under construction, near the capital Pyongyang. The Regan administration would then begin the actions that would define how the U.S. would perform all subsequent monitoring of this nations progress.
Actions, Carefully Crafted Lessons for Managing Policy
Fresh out of the cold war, no peaceful nation was excited to learn that North Korea was advancing the development of nuclear weapons. The first instinct of the U.S. was to sound the alarm, however, president Regan exercised great caution and self-control by ensuring that the U.S. progressed forward with great caution. In order to avoid a similar incident as the “Cuban Missile Crisis”, the protocol was to begin a strategic surveillance program and to essentially cut North Korea off from the resources that it needed to build these weapons. The goal of surveillance would be to ensure that all activities that were being undertaken by this nation were transparent. There must be no surprises. Scientists and engineers would begin to interpret the data that was flowing out of the country in order to assess how far North Korea was to obtaining Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs), while military leaders prepared for the worst-case scenarios that were determined (James et.al, n.d). The U.S. would also take a stance that was non-combative. This is an extremely effective stance, as one may essentially “starve” the enemy by cutting off their access to essential products.
The result would be to shrink the Gross Domestic Production (GDP) of the nation. At that point the country would not have the necessary tools to buy and implement machinery/technology that is required to construct these weapons. This is often referred to as “sanctions”, and can be seen as an effective strategy today, in Russia. While some critics of the U.S. model state that not enough work is being done to prevent the proliferation of WMD development the actual time line for North Korea indicates that they have not gained much ground in the development of these weapons. Hence it has taken over 30 years to get to the point that “long-range” missiles were developed to a point where it was feasible to conduct testing. During this time, the U.S. and other world bodies have constructed vast networks of defense mechanisms that would essentially render any minor advancement irrelevant.
Conclusion
In summary, it is easy for countries with military prowess, brilliant minds, and the democratic process, to easily combat Nations that intend to defy common law. The lessons about American Foreign Policy are clear-cut and include: (1) Monitor the Evidence, (2) Cut-off the Nation from the outside world (through sanctions), (3) Slow their progress, (4) Unite other major powers against the troublesome nation, and (5) Design worst-case defense mechanisms. These five (5) main policies are presented in a very broad manner, however this is the overall guidance that have been used within the past thirty (30) years to effectively combat nations. In addition, these methods require no war and loss of life, as a direct cause of aggressive violence. It is feasible to cut the nation off from an economical perspective and force the leaders of the rebellious nation, into compliance to world demands.
- James, P., & Ozdamar, O. (n.d.). The United States and North Korea: Avoiding a Worst-Case Scenario
