a day ago
US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites won't faze North Korea
U.S. President Donald Trump, left, meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, in June 2019. © Reuters
Derek Grossman is professor of political science and international relations at the University of Southern California and founder and chief analyst of Indo-Pacific Solutions, LLC. He was previously at RAND and served as daily intelligence briefer to the U.S. assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs.
America's bold escalation last month against Iran -- deciding to join the Israeli bombing campaign and strike key nuclear sites to impede Tehran's nuclear program -- must now be factored into adversaries' risk calculations, at least through the Trump administration. Although it remains unclear whether Washington convinced China, Russia, or even Iran to reconsider their deterrence postures, one nation is very unlikely to worry or change a thing: North Korea.
