Renegades!

Northern Intransigence

North Korea, as you may already be aware, is on a one way path to confrontation with the west. Not much is known about the motives for the actions of the hertmit state, but one article in Policy Review, attempts to uncover the method behind the madness. In a nutshell, North Korea has inverted the rationale behind the military spending of western countries. While the west sees its military spending, in general, as a burden that must be carried by the rest of the economy, North Korea views its military very differently.

Rather than portraying its military as a 'burden', the leadership of the North sees the military as its chief financial resource, despite the massive resources thrown into the military spending. Basically, without many exports leaving its physical borders, the North Koreans have managed to export the one commodity that transcends physical time and space. It exports the one thing that has become a hot item for many parts of the global village, the one thing thing that will bring the west to its knees-terror. The North Koreans have managed, in light of their lack of material goods and a market to sell them too to keep their little home grown business up and operating. Sabrerattling, formerly the realm of nations readying for war, has become the primary state of a country intent on blackmailing the rest of the world.

Philosophically, the North Koreans have also inverted their idea of 'success' in the global economy. In one sense, they have reached a very real conclusion about opening their borders to trade: they believe that the free movement of people and goods will result in the 'infiltration' of democracy and capitalism. If they are too integrated in the world economy, the see the end of the North Korean state as it is.

So their strategy is working to an extent. The view their philosophy of 'Juche', or 'self reliance' as the reliance in their military to keep the country apart yet financially afloat through extortion of other nations. It is a fascinating strategy, but one that relies on one dangerous premise:

The rest of the world will not call their bluff at some point.

posted by Shamrocks! @ 5:54 PM