What do you think?
Rate this book
Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On the World
“If we lose, I will destroy the world,” said Kim Jong Il, supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Kim’s regime insults all of us. Its very existence is an affront to humanity’s sense of decency and challenges accepted notions of politics, economics, and social theory. More important, North Korea threatens us.
The Great Leader, as Kim now calls himself, can change the course of history with an act of unimaginable devastation. He possesses an arsenal of nuclear weapons and the ballistic missiles to deliver them. Today he can hit most of the continent of Asia and even parts of the American homeland. In a few years–probably by the end of this decade–the diminutive despot will cast his shadow across the He will be able to land a nuke on any point on the planet.
Even now, everyone is at risk. North Korea has said it might sell weapons to others, thereby making itself the first “nuclear Kmart.” Who wants to live in a world where anyone with enough cash and a pickup truck can incinerate a city?
For six decades, America has tried every tactic to stop Kim’s Korea, but it has failed each time. The current approach–providing aid and assurances of security in return for an end to weapons programs–mimics the failed diplomacy of the 1990s. Negotiations, sponsored by China, have yet to produce an enduring solution.
Unfortunately, Kim has paid no price for destabilizing the global order. In fact, many countries, including America, reward him for his fundamental challenge to the international system. Perhaps that is why the world is now further away from a solution to the Korean nuclear crisis than it was a decade ago.
In a contest that will be decided by finesse more than power, Kim is winning. If he ultimately prevails–and time is running out for Washington–his success will probably result in a quick erosion of American power. The world’s strongest nation does not have much of a future if it cannot defend its most vital interests against a reviled autocrat like Kim from a small country like North Korea.
The current conflict with Kim Jong Il is a crisis like no other, perhaps the twenty-first century’s moment of greatest consequence. This is where the world writes its history for the next hundred years. Nuclear Showdown is the first and only major study to look at all dimensions of this crisis. Gordon G. Chang proposes solutions that go beyond the conventional suggestions seen elsewhere.
The Great Leader, as Kim now calls himself, can change the course of history with an act of unimaginable devastation. He possesses an arsenal of nuclear weapons and the ballistic missiles to deliver them. Today he can hit most of the continent of Asia and even parts of the American homeland. In a few years–probably by the end of this decade–the diminutive despot will cast his shadow across the He will be able to land a nuke on any point on the planet.
Even now, everyone is at risk. North Korea has said it might sell weapons to others, thereby making itself the first “nuclear Kmart.” Who wants to live in a world where anyone with enough cash and a pickup truck can incinerate a city?
For six decades, America has tried every tactic to stop Kim’s Korea, but it has failed each time. The current approach–providing aid and assurances of security in return for an end to weapons programs–mimics the failed diplomacy of the 1990s. Negotiations, sponsored by China, have yet to produce an enduring solution.
Unfortunately, Kim has paid no price for destabilizing the global order. In fact, many countries, including America, reward him for his fundamental challenge to the international system. Perhaps that is why the world is now further away from a solution to the Korean nuclear crisis than it was a decade ago.
In a contest that will be decided by finesse more than power, Kim is winning. If he ultimately prevails–and time is running out for Washington–his success will probably result in a quick erosion of American power. The world’s strongest nation does not have much of a future if it cannot defend its most vital interests against a reviled autocrat like Kim from a small country like North Korea.
The current conflict with Kim Jong Il is a crisis like no other, perhaps the twenty-first century’s moment of greatest consequence. This is where the world writes its history for the next hundred years. Nuclear Showdown is the first and only major study to look at all dimensions of this crisis. Gordon G. Chang proposes solutions that go beyond the conventional suggestions seen elsewhere.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published January 10, 2006
10 people are currently reading
146 people want to read
About the author
Gordon G. Chang
12 books53 followersGordon Guthrie Chang is an American journalist, lawyer, political commentator, and writer. He is the author of The Coming Collapse of China in which he attempted to predict the collapse of China and claimed that it would collapse by 2011. In December 2011, he changed the timing of the year of the predicted collapse to 2012.
In 1976, Chang graduated from the Cornell Law School. He then lived in mainland China and in Hong Kong for close to two decades, where he worked as Partner and Counsel at the US international law firms Baker & McKenzie and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.
Chang has given briefings at the National Intelligence Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, the US State Department, and the US Department of Defense, and he has testified before the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The New Yorker has characterized him as a "longtime überhawk on China".
In 1976, Chang graduated from the Cornell Law School. He then lived in mainland China and in Hong Kong for close to two decades, where he worked as Partner and Counsel at the US international law firms Baker & McKenzie and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.
Chang has given briefings at the National Intelligence Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, the US State Department, and the US Department of Defense, and he has testified before the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The New Yorker has characterized him as a "longtime überhawk on China".
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
Want to read
April 1, 2018"Negotiations, sponsored by China, have yet to produce an enduring solution"
-Will they?
Just to remind: "Denuclearization on the Korean peninsula" means different things to the North Koreans and to the West.
Maybe the "denuclearization" rethoric is aiming also at the US, to denuclearize....*
*http://www.oananews.org/content/news/...
-Will they?
Just to remind: "Denuclearization on the Korean peninsula" means different things to the North Koreans and to the West.
Maybe the "denuclearization" rethoric is aiming also at the US, to denuclearize....*
*http://www.oananews.org/content/news/...
May 22, 2012
After World War II ended, Korea was split into two countries, and the communists took control of the north Their leader, Kim Il Sung, deified himself, glorified Korea, and miseducated his people. Children were taught that Korea deserved most of the credit for defeating Japan, and the role of the United States was left out. He also prevented his citizens from learning that people in the capitalistic West had a much higher standard of living. Kim Il Sung died in 1994 and was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong Il. The North Korean economy suffered during the 1990s, due to the withdrawal of support from the Soviet Union, which abandoned communism. The suffering was aggravated by the refusal of the leaders to make cuts in spending for its bloated military. The country suffered a famine where hundreds of thousands of people died. Much of the food aid received from foreign nations went to the military, rather than to the starving civilians. Things improved after China pressured North Korea to make economic reforms. The people themselves also helped the situation by stealing land from the agricultural collectives to create private farms.
November 3, 2011
An interesting overview, but the author quite evidently has an axe to grind.
October 16, 2013
This book, written during the Bush administration, now feels a bit dated, but still provides a ton of info on the North Korean nublear programme and why it matters.
December 14, 2017
Very good book. However, it is from 2006 and needs to be read with that in mind. Lots has happened. I learned a lot.
August 25, 2017
This is a very important book but it needed developmental editing: editing of the structure as the work was being written. The author often repeats ideas he has just written about with no reason for the repetition and the chapter by chapter ordering often seems arbitrary. This makes the book a slow read as well as not as memorable as such a topic calls for.
April 3, 2017
Very insightful and informative book, not only about the history of the region, but the strategic dilemma today.
September 13, 2024
I give this book 4 stars because it was more of a textbook read then a novel. Plus the book actually stops at 225. But the pages from 226 to 325 is actually just citations and the index. It has a lot of "food for thought" topics about nuclear warfare and the denuclearization of DPRK.
August 6, 2019
Would have done 3.5 - interesting perspective, a bit dated now but lots was still relevant, given today's continuing saga...
April 11, 2020
Cheap fear mongering: rally behind the Beloved Leader and die for the Cause. Never mind the pain and suffering caused.
Read
June 23, 2015It was a very interesting and easy read. I enjoyed Chang's perspective on the North Korean Nuclear weapons saga.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews