The Nuclear Posture Review: Not a Credible Game-Changer for Nuclear North Korea

The Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) emphasis two realities, first the challenge of nuclear terrorism and proliferation; and second, it affirms the end of the Cold War rivalries. But the “resetting” of relationship with Moscow had created an enemy vacuum for the U.S. To fill this gap, North Korea has been constructed as an enemy which justifies the continuity of the “nuclear umbrella” in the Northeast Asian region. But as an asymmetrical, surrogate enemy it is actually the pretext to maintain ‘critical bases’ in Northeast Asia which functions as hubs for U.S. global military power projection. The U.S. interprets its security in terms of its primacy and any perceptible shift from this position makes it feel insecure. This ontological security seeking of the U.S. makes the existence of security dilemma de rigueur in Northeast Asia and prods the U.S. to take a hard line approach towards North Korea.