North Korea 'has miniature nuclear warhead', says Kim Jong-un

[PC2]

"being strong" != "having an effect"

Being strong really just means bullshitting your domestic audience into thinking you're a badass. But other than positive election results it gains you not half as much as "being effective" in foreign policy, including a strong or a diplomatic stance, whatever serves your original purpose best.

Nothing wrong with being a badass, I consider Hillary strong in foreign policy too.

[Macaquerie]

Nothing wrong with being a badass, I consider Hillary strong in foreign policy too.

Because trying really hard to look like a badass and actually being one are exactly the same thing.

[Serenais]

In North Korea's case, "I'll believe it when I see it" is the best approach. Besides, I highly doubt the nuclear weapon, if it even exists, is deployable (aka, that there is a viable carrier missile), and if it does, that it is supposed to be a "first strike" weapon. In my opinion, it is actually supposed to deter China from deposing the Kim regime once it goes too far (and it probably is VERY close to that, considering that China already cooperated with US on sanctions). After all, what China wants is a buffer state between it and asian US allies - I doubt they need specifically Kim's regime there. If said regime would poke the situation to the verge of conflict, I wouldn't be surprised if China was the first one to go into North Korea and replace Kim's regime with a different one. Ironic thing is that said regime would quite likely end up being better than the current North Korean one, even if probably still draconian.

[Macaquerie]

In North Korea's case, "I'll believe it when I see it" is the best approach. Besides, I highly doubt the nuclear weapon, if it even exists, is deployable (aka, that there is a viable carrier missile), and if it does, that it is supposed to be a "first strike" weapon. In my opinion, it is actually supposed to deter China from deposing the Kim regime once it goes too far (and it probably is VERY close to that, considering that China already cooperated with US on sanctions). After all, what China wants is a buffer state between it and asian US allies - I doubt they need specifically Kim's regime there. If said regime would poke the situation to the verge of conflict, I wouldn't be surprised if China was the first one to go into North Korea and replace Kim's regime with a different one. Ironic thing is that said regime would quite likely end up being better than the current North Korean one, even if probably still draconian.

The problem is that whatever country ends up being the one to take out the North Korean government, whether that be South Korea, China, or the US, is ultimately going to be held responsible for rebuilding the country and providing a far higher standard of living to its people than what they currently enjoy, which understandably nobody is really eager to take on right now. The regime knows this, which is why they are constantly trying to push the limits of what the rest of the world is willing to accept, because they know they can leverage their own poverty to get away with far more than they really should be able to.

[PC2]

Because trying really hard to look like a badass and actually being one are exactly the same thing.

You have a point, I wish Obama would talk more about all the great drone work he does in the ME.

[Serenais]

The problem is that whatever country ends up being the one to take out the North Korean government, whether that be South Korea, China, or the US, is ultimately going to be held responsible for rebuilding the country and providing a far higher standard of living to its people than what they currently enjoy, which understandably nobody is really eager to take on right now. The regime knows this, which is why they are constantly trying to push the limits of what the rest of the world is willing to accept, because they know they can leverage their own poverty to get away with far more than they really should be able to.

That is pretty much the reason why nobody did anything about North Korea yet - the initial conflict might be short, but it would be BLOODY, and subsequent costs of basically building a state from scratch where North Korea used to be would be immensly expensive. Especially the first part is another reason why I think China might be the first one to do something about North Korea should push come to shove - they do not care about numbers as much as US or South Korea, and for second, they wouldn't need to have the puppet regime to rebuild as fast as US would, as they could in theory keep soldiers in then-former DPRK as long as they would like to, and they wouldn't need it to build the state to be effectively "second South Korea", it would just need to be on par with nearby Chinese regions (which isn't all that much), instead of being on par with South Korea's nearby regions (which is the freaking Seoul), and wouldn't necessitate removal of the DMZ (at least not a hasty one, unlike in case of US-RoK takeover).

[Slant]

Nothing wrong with being a badass, I consider Hillary strong in foreign policy too.

The trick about foreign policy is to get people that don't like you and don't like you having influence agreeing with you nonetheless and supporting you despite their misgivings about you calling the shots.

Aside from Russia and China routinely opposing the USA based on tradition by now, you've got Europe saying "no" more than once in recent history to the US. That's not a sign of strong foreign policy, that's a sign of losing influence, it's a sign of weakness. You can't correct that course of losing influence by calling even weirder shots that alienate your allies even more. The USA can't do everything on their own, despite what they're told by their media. And "being strong" usually equates to "Yeah well, fuck you, we'll do what we want and if you're not with us, you're against us" in US dogma. Which is really just making the situation worse and worse.

Being strong is an illusion. At least the way you see it. Nobody ever got anywhere internationally by pretending to be a badass. They got somewhere because they were able to compromise, make deals, cooperate, be the good guy. And in some cases, like JFK, they got somewhere because they simply were a badass, without feeling the need to fucking promote it on television every day. A true badass doesn't need to talk about it, he just is. Think Clint Eastwood vs. Will Smith. Who's the true badass there, huh? I'll give you a hint, it's not the dude blabbering his mouth all day long.

[Ghostpanther]

North Korea finally got microwave ovens?