Sanctions aren’t working. We’ve placed Sanctions on Russia, however, Russia’s global influence seems to have grown. We’ve been told our sanctions on Iran worked to secure a controversial and historic nuclear deal. But sanctions have been placed on North Korea. They don’t seem to care – and they’ve just revealed they’re a real nuclear power. How are these nations able to withstand and still progress their agenda amid international sanctions?

Maybe there is some freedom being labeled a problem child in the international community. It is always the Bond super villains that feel liberated. It’s probably fun to play the super villain. Maybe sanctions can encourage and embolden leaders who have control over their people, like a high school kid who has detention for the day. What’s a little more shenanigans? There’s always tomorrow or next week.

The latest round of sanctions against North Korea were lauded as comprehensive and devastating. The international community is convinced of its preeminence. This latest nuclear test will probably inspire more sanctions and isolate North Korea further. The theory is that continued sanctions will lead to North Korea’s decay as a nation. Maybe it will in the long term. Maybe it will cause the North Koreans to take action because they both have nothing to lose and are actively ignored. Everyone hates being shunned.

North Korea is a repressive regime, and their behavior is unpredictable. But, it’s predicted that sanctions will not deter North Korea from continuing their Nuclear program. They demand respect, hate us, and apparently want to become an oppressive power externally as they are domestically. It’s an unknown as to what we can or cannot expect. A war with North Korea sounds terrible and scary. The last didn’t work out well for us. We might be in a state of denial. Either way, whatever we’re doing in regards to North Korea is not holding them back.

North Korea believes it is a future victim of U.S. and Western conspired and fueled regime change. This is an unintended consequence of our policies abroad. Because instead of that threat inspiring compliance, it has inspired defiance. North Korea is convinced a nuclear arsenal is their only protection against an attempt at regime change by the U.S. This is an unstable proposition. North Korea’s leaders feed dissenters to dogs — killed a man for not clapping and another for being “sleepy.” From the outside looking in, Kim Jung-Un is a psycho.

A nuclear arsenal and a paranoid psychopath with his finger on the button won’t resolve itself. A nuclear attack can come whenever. North Korea becoming a nuclear power is a direct and existential threat to the United States.

Featured image courtesy of latuffcartoons.wordpress.com.