Why the US Must Shift Its North Korea Policy From Disarmament to Deterrence

Abstract

After 11 September 2001, America's top priority shifted from selective engagement to defending the peace against its enemies, particularly terrorists and tyrants. In its 2002 National Security Strategy (NSS), the Bush administration established a primary objective from which all other objectives seem to originate: Prevent Our Enemies from Threatening Us, Our Allies, and Our Friends with Weapons of Mass Destruction.1 The Bush administration viewed North Korea's suspected nuclear weapons program with increased scrutiny and began to question whether or not Pyongyang could be deterred from taking unwanted actions. North Korea's recently disclosed nuclear weapons program, rampant proliferation of long-range ballistic missiles, hatred of the United States, disrespect for human values, and global sales of missile technology to terrorist groups and other rogue states has made it a high-level threat to the national security of the United States and a subject of continuous of debate in Washington and among the media.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2003
Accession Number
ADA441541

Entities

People

  • Lynne T. Hamilton-jones

Organizations

  • National War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Arms Control Treaties
  • Asia
  • Ballistic Missiles
  • Deterrence
  • Geographic Regions
  • Korea
  • National Security
  • North Korea
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Security
  • South Korea
  • Treaties
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Weapons
  • Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.
  • Strategic Security Studies