North Korea Threat From a Global Perspective

North Korea is a potential nuclear menace and is being monitored closely to determine if the threat becomes serious. I think that the N. Korean government is not so stupid as to actually threaten the region with nuclear weapons, because that would result in its own destruction. Rather, it is trying to obtain economic concessions from the West.

In the past, the U.S. and others set a bad precedent by trying to buy Korean peace. That was foolish, because it only encouraged Korea to ask for more concessions. Hopefully, the U.S. has learned its lesson and will be more realistic from now on. North Korea needs the West much more than the West needs North Korea.

Recently, UN Secretary-General Annan has also said that proliferation is a grave danger, while others have argued that existing nuclear arsenals imperil us. He also points out that since the review conference last met in 2000, North Korea has announced its withdrawal from the treaty and declared itself in possession of nuclear weapons. Libya has admitted that it worked for years on a clandestine nuclear weapons program. And the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has found undeclared uranium enrichment activity in Iran.

I see the recent nuclear threats in countries around the globe as the inevitable clash between the different political cultures and ideologies. Radical politics is attempting to preserve its culture from contamination by the non-radical cultures, but the pervasiveness of worldwide media make this objective impossible.

The global majority favors Peace, and they want a peaceful society. I believe peace will prevail, ultimately, to preserve the economic interests, too. In the interim, however, I have little confidence that there will be continued peace in many countries because of the many internal ethnic, religious, and clan differences.

Suffering of civilians in terrorism, poverty, and war increases during any kind of political transition. The Cold War ended with the of communism. Yet radical forces bent on spreading fundamentalist ideologies have arisen. In the past several years, the fighting for power has continued, not only in Nepal but in Sierra Leone, Burundi, Angola, Nigeria, Sudan, Liberia, Guinea, Zimbabwe, Cand ongo. Several years after mass killings in Bosnia, Somalia, and Rwanda, there are at least six major cases of genocide.

Because of the internal poverty and conflict many countries are strewn with landmines, which kill thousands of people every year. Abuses against children, including sexual assaults on girls, take place.

It is not easy to bring peace in the conflict areas. Says Dr. Tom Marks, a political risk consultant in Hawaii, "Globalization, for all its benefits, has also created a new era of haves and have-nots. It is important to instutute mechanisms that ensure that new opportunities do not favor only a few but provide opportunity for the many."

Equity promotes peace, leading to a deeper and more durable peace, because it promotes a social field, cross-pressures, and political responsibility. It promotes pluralism, diversity, and groups that have a stake in peace. It is through such far-reaching efforts that the scourge of weapons of mass destruction can be confronted.

Nepali Journalist and Story Writer Kamala Sarup is an editor of peacejournalism.com. She is specialising in in-depth reporting and writing on Peace, Anti War, Women, Terrorism, Democracy, and Development. Some of her publications are: Women's Empowerment (Booklet). Prevention of trafficking in women through media,(Book) Efforts to Prevent Trafficking in for Media Activism (Media research). Two Stories collections. Her interests include international conflict resolution, cross-cultural communication, philosophy, feminism, political, socio-economic and literature. Her current plans are to move on to humanitarian work in conflict areas in the near future. She also is experienced in organizational and community development.

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