Hermit That Would Be a Hegemon: American Considerations for a Nuclear-Armed North Korea

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Hermit That Would Be a Hegemon: American Considerations for a Nuclear-Armed North Korea

When a state becomes nuclear armed, it enters a de facto deterrence relationship with other nuclear-armed states insofar as it cannot use its nuclear arsenal because the retaliatory action would ensure the mutual destruction of both states. In the case of North Korea, however, this deterrence-induced stability cannot be expected to materialize for four reasons: the reclusive state may maintain inadequate safeguards on their nuclear arsenal; they may have an incompetent, vulnerable, or overzealous command and control protocol; they may pursue non-deterrent uses of their nuclear arsenal; they have demonstrated an ability and will to proliferate nuclear material. These four considerations indicate that the United States should continue to pursue denuclearization as opposed to accepting the DPRK's arsenal. While stopping short of advocating for a specific policy approach, this paper offers an introduction to five policy avenues that can be used in conjunction to change the Kim family regime's cost-benefit ratio against maintaining an arsenal. Three policy pitfalls that would detract from that end are likewise introduced.

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Record Origin: Hermit That Would Be a Hegemon: American Considerations for a Nuclear-Armed North Korea

Record Creation Date: 2021-03-17

Description Standard: MODS

Title: Hermit That Would Be a Hegemon: American Considerations for a Nuclear-Armed North Korea

Persons: Korin, David

Resource Type: Thesis/Dissertation

Date Created: 2018-04-06T00:00:00.000-04:00

Decade: 2010s

Campus Location: N/A

Language: English

Extent and Media: PDF/OCR ; .68 MB

Physical Form: N/A

System of arrangement: DACS

Subject LCSH: Deterrence (Strategy); United States -- Foreign relations -- North Korea; Nuclear nonproliferation; Nuclear weapons

Subject Local Topic: Noth Korea

Biography or History:

Custodial history: Transferred to the Emmanuel Archives from the author.

Acquisition Information: Transferred to the Emmanuel Archives from the author.

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Accrual Information: Theses are collected on an annual basis in the spring semester

Conditions Governing Access: Access to document is governed by a license signed by the author

Conditions Governing Reproduction: Requests for permission to publish material from this thesis is governed by a license signed by the author. Contact the College Archivist.

Collection Title: Distinction in the Field: Senior Theses

Location of Originals: Digital Folder: Korin_D

Alternative Form Available: N/A

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