The US-North Korea Conflict

    Image copyright: AFP/Getty Images [via Foreign Policy]

    The Spin

    Pro-establishment narrative

    North Korea's actions pose a severe threat to the stability of the Korean peninsula and the security of the rest of the world. The Kim dynasty has run North Korea as a family dictatorship possessed by a delusional ideology and a desire to destabilize East and Southeast Asia. The United States has tried and so far failed to negotiate an end to nuclear weapons in exchange for humanitarian aid — it's time for a military ultimatum.

    Establishment-critical narrative

    North Korea's nuclear ambitions are for its own security and independence, and a direct consequence of past U.S. blunders in foreign policy. Successive American administrations have derailed diplomatic routes to denuclearization, and the United States clearly can't be trusted to make good on a deal, especially when it launches large military drills with North Korea's regional adversaries. Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions aim to strengthen its negotiating position.


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