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May 31, 2009

North Korea Is No Regional Power

Malcolm Rifkind, Daily Telegraph

AP Photo

North Korea is a big problem. With nuclear weapons it would become an even bigger one. But, unlike Iran, it does not keep me awake at night. Iran wants to be the major power in the Gulf. Its neighbours, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, see it is a direct threat to their safety and security. Iran's threats to annihilate Israel, combined with its aspirations for nuclear weapons, could be a precursor to a major war with massive casualties throughout the Middle East.

North Korea is in a different league. It cannot be the new regional power in the Far East. The very thought is ludicrous. It is desperately poor; its economy is puny compared to South Korea's, and both China and Japan tower over it. A nuclear-armed North Korea would be dangerous but, because of its...

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TAGGED: Kim Jong Il, North Korea

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