North Korea Threat From a Global Perspective

Added: (Thu Oct 12 2006)

Pressbox (Press Release) - North Korea Threat From a Global Perspective

-Kamala Sarup

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.