Navigation
-
Recent Posts
Archives
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2019
- November 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- April 2017
- January 2017
- September 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- November 2013
- October 2013
- August 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
Tag Archives: korea
Believing Our Own BS
In business, a company gets into trouble when it starts believing its own BS. The same is true for a nation, except there “bankruptcy” can mean war, possibly nuclear. To prevent needless wars and ultimately to save the planet, we … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Hellman, iran, korea, north korea, nuclear war, nuclear weapons, stanford, war and peace
Leave a comment
North Korea’s Nuclear Test
A post concerning North Korea’s latest nuclear test is on my new website for the book my wife and I just completed. I’ve included the lead-in here and encourage you to read the whole post on that website. Continue reading
Avoiding Needless Wars, Part 6: North Korea
Over the last few months, North Korea has severely tested the world’s patience. It conducted its third nuclear test, canceled the armistice ending the Korean War, threatened the US with nuclear ruin, warned foreigners to leave the country because war was imminent, cut its hotline with South Korea, and readied a missile for firing. This shrill, irrational behavior seems to confirm the conventional wisdom that North Korea is a rogue nation, run by a nut job – end of story. In that perspective, there is little we can do other than hope that our military power deters them from following through on their hair-brained threats. While there is truth in that perspective, it pays to examine some other hypotheses which, if true, would give us more effective options for reducing the risk of a needless war. Continue reading
North Korea’s Nuclear Deterrent
In a recent interview, former Director of Los Alamos Siegfried Hecker made an important observation about North Korea’s nuclear weapons: “I do not believe that North Korea’s leadership has any plans to bomb the United States, its assets or allies. However, it wants to hold U.S. interests at risk of a nuclear attack to deter us from regime change and to create international leverage and diplomatic maneuvering room.” Continue reading
Do We Believe Our Own BS?
Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal reported what, at first, appears to be continued, blatant aggression by North Korea: South Korea returned fire twice toward North Korea Wednesday after it said artillery shells fired from the North landed on the southern side of … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged korea, martin hellman, northern limit line, nuclear risk, nuclear weapons
3 Comments
Korean Crisis Deepens
Conflicts become significantly more dangerous when each side sees itself as the innocent victim of reckless acts by its adversary. A dangerous feedback loop develops in which bad behavior must be met with resolute force. Unfortunately, just such a hazardous situation exists on the Korean peninsula as demonstrated by the following recent reports: Continue reading
Defusing the Korean Nuclear Threat
A front page article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal shines a spotlight on a number of overlooked, early-warning signs of the BP oil spill disaster: “In the months before and after the rig exploded … the industry was hit with several serious spills and alarming near-misses, some of them strikingly similar to what happened aboard the Deepwater Horizon.” That observation has some surprising lessons for defusing the current crisis on the Korean peninsula and averting a second – and possibly nuclear – Korean War.
Continue reading
Defusing the Nuclear Threat 