Recent Publications - Tag North Korea

Strategic Insights: Thinking About Catastrophe: The Army in a Nuclear Armed World
December 14, 2015 — Dr. Steven MetzNothing is more important to American security than nuclear weapons. Despite all the fretting over terrorism, hybrid threats, and conventional aggression, only nuclear weapons can threaten the existence of the United States and destroy the global economy. This is certainly not news to American policymakers and military strategists:... MORE

Op-Ed: The Romance of Great Powers in Northeast Asia
October 23, 2012 — Dr. David Lai The Strategic SettingNortheast Asia is a place where five of the world's most powerful nations meet: China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, and the United States. Three of these countries have the world's largest economies (the U.S., China, and Japan), and three of them have the largest militaries (China, the U.S., and Russia). In... MORE

The Next Arms Race
July 1, 2012 — Author: Mr Henry D Sokolski The New Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (New START) agreement was reached in 2011, and both Russia and the United States are bringing nuclear strategic warhead deployments down to roughly 1,500 on each side. In the next round of strategic arms reduction talks, though, U.S. officials hope to cut far deeper; perhaps as low... MORE

Busting the Myths About the North Korea Problem
February 23, 2012 — Dr. David Lai North Korea's dictator Kim Jong-il passed away on December 17, 2011. His servants followed his will to crown his 28-year-old son, Kim Jong-un, as the “Great Successor” to the Kim family dynasty. Skepticism abounds about the “untested” young emperor's ability to continue dynastic rule in North Korea. There are also speculations that... MORE

Arms Control and Proliferation Challenges to the Reset Policy
November 1, 2011 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank The current U.S. reset policy with Russia involves efforts to blaze a path of mutual cooperation on arms control and proliferation. In arms control, we see determined administration attempts to promote greater nuclear reductions in the direction of nuclear zero, including reductions in tactical nuclear weapons. This... MORE

Understanding the North Korea Problem: Why It Has Become the “Land of Lousy Options”
July 1, 2011 — Author: COL William A Boik This monograph provides a timely analysis and thoughtful insights into the challenges faced by the United States in developing a strategy for North Korea. The author examines the complex history of U.S. policy toward North Korea over the last decade that has left the United States in a position of having virtually no... MORE

Improvised Explosive Devices in Iraq, 2003-09: A Case of Operational Surprise and Institutional Response

Criminal Sovereignty: Understanding North Korea’s Illicit International Activities
March 1, 2010 — Authors: Dr Bruce E Bechtol Jr, Mr Robert M Collins, Dr Paul Rexton Kan This monograph examines Office Number 39’s origins, organizational structure, and activities in order to develop a more calibrated strategy and policy to meet the North Korean challenge. This monograph focuses on Office Number 39's key illicit activities— to include manufacture... MORE

Resetting the Reset Button: Realism About Russia
December 1, 2009 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the December 2009 newsletter.Read Now MORE

Prospects from Korean Unification
April 1, 2008 — Author: COL (Australian Army) David Coghlan Throughout the 1990s, predictions of Korean reunification were rife. Since then, enthusiasm for such predictions have faded, and although the underlying assumption of reunification remains, forecasts of when and how this will occur have been more subdued. Reunification poses two distinct yet... MORE

Projecting Pyongyang: The Future of North Korea’s Kim Jong Il Regime
March 1, 2008 — Author: Dr Andrew Scobell The author seeks to assist planners and decisionmakers in thinking about and preparing for possible future contingencies concerning North Korea. He does not dwell on war or conflict scenarios involving North Korea because military planners have already focused considerable effort and attention on these. It is entirely... MORE

The North Korean Ballistic Missile Program
February 25, 2008 — Author: Dr Daniel A Pinkston North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs have drawn international attention for years. In the early 1960s, Pyongyang began to pursue the capability to produce advanced weapons systems, including rockets and missiles. However, foreign assistance and technology, particularly from China and the Soviet... MORE

East Asian Security: Two Views
November 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Gilbert Rozman, Dr Chu Shulong A new framework for Northeast Asian security must cope with the legacy of six decades of frequent changes in the region’s great power relations. In order to realize the goals of the Joint Agreement in the Six-Party Talks, multilateralism is becoming more important. U.S. leadership faces challenges from: the... MORE