North Korea: Rodman can’t save us now.
This is part two to my North Korea topic and should be considered a separate article which follows an earlier post.
As a brief recap, I pretty much described Dennis Rodman as an Adonis of a man and defended reasons for choosing him while questioning and reiterating some of the issues in having him as a diplomat. These issues are better highlighted in the work of my colleague whom writes under https://pdgc2012a.wordpress.com/author/yonasbennour/
Anyway, if you’ve read his work on Rodman and mine, or both and have been reading the news I think it’s safe to say that Rodman has really, for all his skills and plus’s Been as effective as eating soup with a pencil .
Mr Kim has since declared a state of war against South Korea, breaking the unofficial treaty that has held since 1950 and has also stated that the USA is a potential target as well. This includes states under US protection, so South Korea, Japan and pretty much ‘The West’. This is in many ways a terrifying time as the world media explains and comments although does very little reporting on the events as they’re unfolding, global misinformation to the public hasn’t helped ease the nerves especially when you consider that NK is nuclear. The point here is, Mr Kim has made threats, even to destroy the USA where the person he flaunted as a personal friend, and who brought joy to the people of Pyongyang (Rodman) hails .
While I’m being slightly facetious, Dennis was hardly going to pick up the phone, invite Kim to a round of golf and talk him to see sense. At this point I’m going to make a leap of faith and say that celebrity diplomacy fails or at least have failed in this case. The USA has said and I quote “inter the quote” and both sides seem fixed to go to battle. I actually have family and friends both in Tokyo and Seoul who say that until the factories stop, no one is going to fight anyone, more so they say Kim’s desires are to expand, and no use nuclear force on South Korea or Japan would mean his empire would have to wait a few hundred years. But unfortunately until academia recognizes interviews via Skype and FaceTime, I can’t source this assertion in this post.
Regardless, Pyongyang does have nuclear capabilities, they’ve already carried out two tests with a third scheduled, they lack the capability of attaching warheads although so did the USA with the Manhattan project. This is at its core a diplomatic breakdown, the USA is vastly superior in terms of military might and nuclear advancement and any plane carrying a bomb from NK could be dispatched with ease by the US air force, North Korea could still inflict a horrific amount of damage in one final flourish.
http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/snl_dennis_rodman_appears_in_skit_mocking_north_koreas_kim_jong_un_201 30407/
http://m.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/29/kim-jongun-missiles-standby-attack-us
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22056797
The diplomatic community now stands poised and terrified of the peace broker purer pairing to go to war, with states such as Britain and France tugging at the trouser leg of peace like a hyper Jack Russell . Even more worrying is that the alliance in these peace pooches has come in the form of Russia, whom are not fans of the USA or most of Europe which to me indicates genuine panic if we have now entered the stage where the same boat is leaking for us all.
However, the silver lining has emerged, China (again who’d have thought), have no desire to fight the west and although they are and ally of North Korea have publicly expressed a reluctance to follow Mr. Kim into a war. Indeed, states such as Russia and Britain have said that the key to peace in this situation is dependent on the state diplomacy between China and North Korea. The Chinese will cease this opportunity with two hands as really this is their bigger chance of exercising extreme soft power and effectively, allowing the US to save face. A fascinating dynamic for the following reasons: first of all, no one in this situation is a nihilist, secondly if China succeeds, then serious questions will be asked about whether the USA is ‘top dog’ as the peace broker. In addition, the sycophantic nature of US politics means that the USA may even improve relations with China as a result and indeed if there is some form of conflict resolution, this could all be really to bring the USA to the negotiation table in a hope to get some form of concession against increasing international sanctions.
Public Diplomacy and Global Communication A 