[h=1]
RE Russia Uses Veto To Block UN Statement Seeking Further North Korean Sanctions
※→ et al,[/h]
The blame game and finger pointing doesn't work on the question of US Global Influence, and the US relationship with the ROK, the DPRK, PRC, Japan, and the Russian Federation. In fact, at the opening of the 21st Century, the US was already a declining world power. Yes, the US still has probably the best Strategic Nuclear Deterrent Force (SNDF), but at the end of the day, if it wants anything done, the US either has to either plead and beg, buy the necessary political capital, or do it alone.
The old concept of the US having the influence of a Super Power; and when it speaks, the world listens, is fading fast.
The US has no real means to influence Nuclear Policy Changes in the DPRK any more than it can change Nuclear Policy in Iran. In fact, it has even less influence in the case of the DPRK. And for the most part, the US is trying to impose a restriction that has no basis in international law. Where as Japan Ranks 17th on the Human Development Index (HDI), and the ROK Ranks 18th, the Russian Federation Ranks 49th, and with Main Land PRC Ranked 90th
[Hong Kong, China (SAR) Ranking 12th], the DPRK did not even make the ratings; having no significant development. That means that the factors that are important to the North Korean is very different from that of the Developed Nations.
∴ So, the DPRKs shabby little quasi-ICBM Program
(KN-14 & KN-08) can actually make much more of an impact in hitting Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, or Moscow --- than any of the Western Allies can in a retaliation strike on any major target in the DPRK.
Most Western Policies and Strategies
(diplomatic, militarily, and economically) are based on the the idea that the opponents in the conflict can inflict similar levels of damage on the other. That is not the case with the DPRK. If the DPRK managed to hit (with a small warhead) any significant target outside their normal influence
(say: Hong Kong, Pearl Harbor, Kyoto, Deagu, or Novgorod), the damage inflected would be many times more than would be the total destruction of Pyongyang. And it is that simple fact that gives a leader like Kim Jong-un such a strong hand. The entire population of the DPRK is something like 26 Million (at most). The population of Seoul Korea is almost 10 Million. A proportional response by the Allied Powers would be to burn half the DPRK to the ground.
In 21st Century diplomacy - we must to find something that means as much to the DPRK as much as major cities mean to the Allied Powers (+ PRC).
As far as sanctions go, how much more can we take from the DPRK before they determine that they have nothing to lose. An opponent with nothing to lose is a very dangerous opponent. The Russians know this --- even if the Americans do not. That is why the Russian exercised their VETO power.
Like I've said before, the US just does not have the knowledge skills and abilities to address the diplomatic challenges of the 21st Century; and the rest of the world knows it. We are no longer the leader of the free world.
Most Respectfully,
R