Nuclear and Rogue: Rethinking US Strategy Toward North Korea and Iran

Abstract

The US views North Koran and Iran as rogue states which either possess or seek nuclear weapons. To combat this combined threat, the US adopted a strategy aimed at achieving two objectives simultaneously: 1) altering the behavior of these nations, bringing them into compliance with international norms, and 2) preventing or disarming their nuclear programs. These conflated goals, which the US continues to strive toward today, are overly ambitious. They have led to a hard power strategy that has proven not only ineffective, but counterproductive, pushing nations toward nuclearization and undermining soft power tactics. Instead of seeking these two objectives as though they are one, the US should focus first on the most urgent objective of non-proliferation and pursue a strategy that balances hard and soft power to achieve it.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 10, 2019
Accession Number
AD1079757

Entities

People

  • Ryan L. Hill

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Ballistic Missiles
  • Civil Rights
  • Department Of State
  • Economic Sanctions
  • Foreign Policy
  • International Relations
  • International Security
  • National Security
  • North Korea
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Security
  • Terrorists
  • United Nations
  • United States
  • Weapons
  • Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Strategic Security Studies