Another day, another shot from the White House aimed at North Korea. The rhetoric has ratcheted up another notch as President Trump tweets “Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely.”
UGA Professor Andrew Owsiak says these are unusual times.
“It’s a little staggering that we keep trying to escalate the matter,” he said. “Most of the time if we use normal diplomacy things sort of settle themselves down. I think this would probably dissipate if we gave it a little time where we weren’t fanning the flames.”
And while North Korea has threatened to launch an attack on the US territory of Guam, Owsiak says that’s not necessarily unusual.
“North Korea is actually a rational actor and it doesn’t mean rational in the sense of they are sensible or we agree with what they’re doing. But it means that given the situation that’s presenting themselves they have a set of goals and they’re pursing policies that are aimed to get them toward those goals.”
He says the US could allay world concerns.
“The world community likes stability and certainty. They like to know what they’re getting from any leader and they like to know exactly what the policy is and what your response to various situations are going to be. The sooner the US can provide that stability, the better.”
Professor Owsiak is in UGA’s Department of International Affairs.
