@hightor,
hightor wrote:
Hypothetical man from Mars just seeking an answer here — why is there such outrage at NK building and testing ballistic missiles? In the USA, the right to national — and personal — self-defense is sacrosanct as are independence and autonomy. We have tested thousands of ballistic missiles and detonated scores of nuclear weapons. And to a lesser extent other countries have done so as well. Why shouldn't NK, which sees a world full of adversaries consistently deriding its rulers and threatening to topple the regime, have the right to develop defensive weapons? Why shouldn't they be able to test these weapons? What right does the USA have to interfere in NK's efforts to protect its freedom and independence? Why is it wrong for the regime to declare that it wants to develop missiles capable of reaching the USA? The hypothetical man from Mars understands that the USA doesn't like the regime. But they don't particularly like us either. The hypothetical man from Mars understands that NK is ruled by an erratic and unconventional authoritarian. But so is the USA.
Your hypothetical Martian is too fixated on abstract concepts which he might be forgiven for given his alien thought process and unfamiliarity with earthly geo-politics
I would explain to your Martian friend that in theory NK has the same
right to defend itself as any other nation, but such a right is meaningless in practice.
Aside from the fact that other nations are rightfully concerned that NK might use their defensive weapons on offense or as a means to shield them from the consequences of more conventional aggression, powerful nations don't trust them and what powerful nations want, not abstract concepts like
rights, tend to rule the geo-political landscape.
China and Russia may not be entirely happy with NK's nuclear capabilities but their resistance to US led efforts to restrain them are not based on any devotion to the sovereign rights of nations.
The hypothetical Martian may have a difficult time understanding this but it's not a matter of NK's nuclear ambitions being
"wrong" as it is their being perceived as
very dangerous to certain more powerful nations.
Even the UN which is about as close as there is to a earthly global court that renders decisions on the
rights of nations has imposed restrictions and sanctions on NK. Why? Because aside from the influence of powerful nations on the organization, there is a general consensus that 1) Nuclear proliferation is not a good think for the world and 2) NK cannot be trusted
If all your Martian friend understands about the current NK regime and the Kim Dynasty is that it is
erratic and unconventional than he (assuming Martians have human like genders) is woefully ignorant of the history of North Korea and the Kims, and this would be totally underscored if he also believed that the current NK leader and the president of the US are, essentially, equivalent creatures. Have you been hosting this Martian and are you responsible for his poor education?
Perhaps Martian civilization has advanced to the point where an application and adherence to the concept of sovereign rights isn't likely to result in significant numbers of dead Martians and fried Martian cities, but, unfortunately, here on the sister planet earth, we haven't.
