I can't begin to describe the ramifications at play here, with loose threats of nuclear warfare between Donald Trump & Kim Jong-Un, without turning it into a history lecture. That's the price I pay for being a history graduate from San Francisco State University. I'll try to keep this as concise as I can, but no guarantees.
Loose threats of nuclear war are terrifying beyond the imagenable, and it should serve as a major wake-up call to quicken the process of nuclear disarmament. For the people who grew up during the Cold War, this is a terrifying reminder of their childhood and adolescense. That makes their terror very justifiable.
However, one of the ways these threats have gotten so out of control is by the leadership in North Korea having absolutely no regard for human life. Even worse is the level of cockiness by Kim, who thinks that he'll be able to take on America with the aid of North Korea's de facto allies: Russia and China. This is where he is wrong on so many levels as the dynamics are much different now than with the start and end of the Korean War in 1950-3. The biggest reason is that Russia and China are not going to back North Korea up should it engage in a war of aggression against America and its regional allies.
This doesn't mean that the American side is without its own contributions. For years, America has been engaging in aggressive activity very close to North Korea's territory, both terrestrial and marine, through joint military exercises with both Japan and South Korea. Granted, these activities are primarily defensive in origin, but their execution can come across as a threat to the North. Another factor to add is the cockiness on display by Trump, who, in a way, is lettling his ego cloud his judgment in a sense. Trump is a president with no prior experience in government, which puts him at a huge learning curve.
Loose threats of nuclear war are terrifying beyond the imagenable, and it should serve as a major wake-up call to quicken the process of nuclear disarmament. For the people who grew up during the Cold War, this is a terrifying reminder of their childhood and adolescense. That makes their terror very justifiable.
However, one of the ways these threats have gotten so out of control is by the leadership in North Korea having absolutely no regard for human life. Even worse is the level of cockiness by Kim, who thinks that he'll be able to take on America with the aid of North Korea's de facto allies: Russia and China. This is where he is wrong on so many levels as the dynamics are much different now than with the start and end of the Korean War in 1950-3. The biggest reason is that Russia and China are not going to back North Korea up should it engage in a war of aggression against America and its regional allies.
This doesn't mean that the American side is without its own contributions. For years, America has been engaging in aggressive activity very close to North Korea's territory, both terrestrial and marine, through joint military exercises with both Japan and South Korea. Granted, these activities are primarily defensive in origin, but their execution can come across as a threat to the North. Another factor to add is the cockiness on display by Trump, who, in a way, is lettling his ego cloud his judgment in a sense. Trump is a president with no prior experience in government, which puts him at a huge learning curve.
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