By Elijah Lutz, Opinion Editor
“Fanaticism consists of redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim.” These are the words of philosopher George Santayana, born in 1863 and died in 1952. Yet lately it is becoming clear that these words still have severe relevance in our modern society. One week, it is lethal violence in Charlottesville caused by white nationalist fanatics. The next week, it is the pardoning of an anti-immigration fanatic in Arizona. But now, all of our eyes are on yet another fanatic: North Korea’s supreme leader, Kim Jong-un.
In the span of two weeks, North Korea has launched four different missiles. The first set, three short-ranged missiles, were tested on Aug. 25; one of these failed and exploded after its launch. The fourth missile came only three days later, on Aug. 28, when a ballistic missile flew over Japanese airspace, forcing citizens of Hokkaido to shelter-in-place as a precaution. According to CBS News, that missile flew 1,677 miles into the Pacific.
Finally, to top off the erratic flurry of activity, North Korea conducted a nuclear test, its sixth, on Sept. 3. This test, however, was unlike any that came before it. According to the Korean Central News Agency, the state-run news agency for North Korea, this was a successful test of a thermonuclear bomb, or hydrogen bomb, designed for use on intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). While the accuracy of the claim that a thermonuclear device was used has been called into question, one thing is very clear: this bomb was powerful, yielding approximately 140 kilotons of TNT according to U.S. Intelligence sources.
Going back to the quote from Santayana, it begs the question: with all this increase in activity, what is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) aim? Traditionally speaking, it has been widely accepted and understood that the reason has been to increase their power and influence on the world stage, to be taken seriously as a power. Propaganda has been blasted into North Korea’s citizens that they can bring the United States and her allies to heel under the might of a nuclear arsenal. Can that, however, still be the aim in an ever changing and advancing world?
In the era of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union harnessed the power of nuclear weapons and built up their respective arsenals as an act of dominance and supremacy over the other power. It was a method of both strength and deterrence. Since before the fall of the Soviet Union, it has been understood by the various powers of the world that nuclear warfare is most certainly a ticket to mutually assured destruction. Therefore, the efforts to seek nuclear warfare and to build our arsenal even more are unnecessary.
Enter 2017: the United States now has a reactionary president who both wants to be “unpredictable” with nuclear weapons, and has foregone President Teddy Roosevelt’s policy of “speak softly and carry a big stick” for a policy of speaking loudly, hoping they don’t look at our stick. Even still, President Trump will not just start to play ball with North Korea because they have nuclear weapons. He is still the leader of the world’s largest liberal democracy. Even with all the talk, he still isn’t going to just one day decide to engage in warfare.
The playing field has changed for Kim Jong-un, and he knows the field he is playing in. To the North, the building of a nuclear arsenal is a guarantee (or maybe just a hope) that the United States and South Korea will not come to bully them around. The only problem is, instead of being reserved and calm with their arsenal, the propagandized image has to be maintained. They flaunt their ability around like it is a new toy on Christmas morning. They frighten the world with their flaunting, making many in the United States question whether or not we will have to once again have duck-and-cover exercises, or perhaps even more organized drills of what to do in the event of a nuclear attack.
When the nuclear ambitions of the North began in the 80’s, the aim of being taken seriously with nuclear weapons may have had merit. But now, in 2017, the world is much different. More peaceful, if you will. The tactics and gimmicks don’t work with the same effect as they used to. The aim they had is now lost, so the North has redoubled their efforts. There is no more doubt, if there ever was any in the first place; Kim Jong-un is a nuclear fanatic, and who knows if anything can change that.
