Professional paper
NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR CHALLENGE – PERSPECTIVES OF US COERCIVE DIPLOMACY
Marijana Giba
orcid.org/0000-0003-0225-1789
Abstract
Recent events on the Korean peninsula made the world quite optimistic about possibility of it’s denuclearization. Bearing in mind previous experience with “rogue” North Korea, one have to ask is denuclearization something realistic to expect? The North Korean nuclear program represents a long-standing and on-going challenge which international community is actively facing more than 25 years. It is also a major challenge for US administration because it’s one of the rare contemporary threats that pervades fundamental US national interests. At the same time, based on the changes that have taken place in the international arena, American unilateral action faces significant constrain. This paper gives a retrospective view of two North Korean nuclear crises as well as an analysis of current US strategy of coercive diplomacy. The main variables to be considered are 1) clarity of objective and limitation of demand, and 2) international support and influence of third parties. The first variable represents an obstacle in the sense of colliding fundamental national interests of the main protagonists, while the other is an additional aggravating circumstance due to the reemerge of The Great Power Geopolitics. Revisionist rising powers, Russia and China, are balancing against the United States and seeking changes in the status quo. The US strategies will have to take into consideration Chinese and Russian aspirations if they want to evade them from becoming spoilers in resolving the nuclear issue of North Korea.
Keywords
coercive diplomacy; deterrence; compellence; North Korea; nuclear weapons; denuclearization
Hrčak ID:
207138
URI
Publication date:
22.6.2018.
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