Blog #10 North Korea: what would you do if you were president Obama?

President Obama has several choices he could make in terms of dealing with North Korea. They range from doing nothing to drastic military action. The results of any of these choices would range from a peaceful resolution to war. Due to the heavy American involvement in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the American public would have very little appetite for military action unless absolutely necessary. Also, doing nothing would not be a wise choice in part because we are dealing with a young, new and unpredictable leader who in all likelihood is staging these events in order to appease his generals and gain further concessions from western nations. We have to remember that North Korea is a rouge hermit state where human rights are suffocated and is ruled by a small, elite group who live quite lavishly. This groups main purpose is to stay in power and to keep the common citizens oblivious to the outside world. 

I believe President Obama’s best choice would be to pressure China, which is North Koreas only significant ally to exert political, economical and potentially even military pressure on the North Korean leadership. This is not to mean that the United States, South Korea and Japan shouldn’t take prudent defensive actions in the extreme likelihood that the North Koreans bluffing.