Crazy in the ‘Hood

The power of weapons of mass destruction means their possession concerns not only the immediate neighbor but the neighborhood. How to deal with a country like North Korea, which appears to have developed nuclear weapons, is thus not only a worry to South Korea. But the killing power that North Korea packs vis-à-vis its southern neighbor makes US decision-making more complicated. As Thomas Friedman notes, “Bush hawks would like to just bash the North, but the neighbors will never go along. Their view is that when dealing with a heavily armed crazy state like North Korea - which will probably never give up some kind of nuclear deterrent - all you can do is steadily reduce its ability to wreak havoc.” -YaleGlobal