SJS5- The North Korea Problem: Dealing with Irrationality

 SJS5- "The North Korea Problem: Dealing with Irrationality"

Source: Cumings, Bruce. “The North Korea Problem: Dealing with Irrationality.” Current History, vol. 108, no. 719, Sept. 2009, pp. 284-90.

Author Credentials: Bruce Cumings is the chairman of the history department at the University of Chicago and also the author of "Dominion from Sea to Sea: Pacific Ascendancy and American Power." This shows that Cumings is a very reliable source who is well educated in his field and often conducts exemplary research.

Summary: Cumings explains in his article background on North Korea and the nuclear weapons they hold. He discusses the thoughts of Kim Jong Il and what he believes that Kim Jong Il will plan to do and why. He continues in the article to about Obama being elected as our president in 2009 and what his predecessors did before he entered the office. Here he discusses what Clinton did compared to what both President Bushes did and how Obama differs from Clinton, the bushes, and Carter. He analyzes what he believes will happen in the future with North Korea and what treaties and documents we can make to ensure the safety of our country as well as the rest of the world. Cumings ends his piece with the section titled, "The Melfi Strategy" where he describes the strategy as seen in a movie of how a psychiatrist deals with a patient who is "...angry, violent, insulting, aggravating, recalcitrant, prideful, [and] self-defeating..." He continues to describe the way Jennifer Melfi dealt with Tony Soprano and compares it to the way he believes the Unite States should act with North Korea.

Analysis: Cumings gives the reader an interesting insight on what his thoughts are about the U.S. and North Korea. He supports his thoughts with factual information about how past presidents interacted with the dangerous country. He follows up with his "Fictional Scenarios" about what the United States could do and what he believes North Korea would react to these scenarios. The piece shows that Cumings is truly deep in thought about what could happen not only to our country but to the world while thinking about the unknown of what North Korea holds and how many nuclear weapons they contain. North Korea is a frightening country for most people in the world because we do not know a lot about it and that frightens the rest of the world, the unknown is what causes fear. This fear ensures that the United States has to go along very wearily and make decisions based on what is safe and what is better for the world and our country as a whole. The article was very well written and included interesting information and ideas that made the reader think about North Korea and the possible situations our country has experienced and may experience in the future and how we should react to those situations.