Nuclear security

North Korea: The End of the Nuclear Taboo?

This summer’s nuclear showdown between the United States and North Korea, largely manufactured by the bravado and bluster of the President of the United States, seemed to conclude “not with a bang but with a whimper,” until yesterday’s missile test overflying Japan. As a result, the underlying question, how to best prevent a U.S.-North Korean nuclear war, as Pyongyang continues to push for “full spectrum deterrence,” endures.

Among other things, this summer’s crisis highlights the belief held by some U.S. policymakers that an alleged irrational actor such as North Korea cannot be deterred from launching its nuclear missiles by threatening nuclear retaliation. For example, U.S. National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster in an interview this month said that “classical deterrence theory” does not apply to North Korea. At the same time, U.S. officials (including U.S. President Donald Trump) have repeatedly floated the idea of preemptive military strikes against North Korean missile sites as an ostensible last ditch effort to deter Pyongyang.